rather than pick out individual stocks to trade, it can often be worthwhile to trade the indices themselves, especially in times of high volatility.

for those so inclined, i attach below charts for FTSE and FTSE 250, though one might equally be tempted to trade Dow or S&P, which is significantly broader in its coverage, or even NASDAQ

for ease of reading, i have attached 1 year and 3 month charts in each instance

well london touched 3616 today and is still only 3635

i just wonder if we are now very close to the famed "final capitulation", after which the markets then start to recover .... don't forget, they tend to look forward about 6 months

one big surprise (for me) has been the sell off of bullion - now down to $927 whereas it tried to breach $1000 just a few days ago

one final "nonsense" ..... 3476 on ftse may well happen tomorrow .... and then???? .... anyone's guess

As I posted on the HOC thread on the 25th Feb, which I thought was correct at the time & has proved so:
"Besides the significant psychological barrier of the $1,000 an ounce landmark (due to the enormous tumble in gold prices that occurred last July, 2008 right after gold reached this pinnacle), other developments in futures markets that lurk beneath the surface also point to a temporary correction in the works over the next few weeks.

Furthermore, despite the strong showing of gold prices in recent days, the leveling-off behavior of major gold stocks like Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) and Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) also raises a red flag.

The information uncovered in this regard tells me that a correction, and perhaps a significant correction in gold prices, is likely to occur in the coming weeks, though the long-term trend is still higher and significantly higher. But dont misinterpret my message. Physical gold is one of the most conservative investments you could own right now. And even from todays price, it is destined to go much higher. However, right now, the risk-reward scenario is not attractive at all. So despite the deluge of articles telling you to buy, buy, buy gold now, dont take the bait, no matter how tempting."

Cynic we have March spreadbet expirys coming up pretty soon, think its the 17th, so a lot of traders will be looking to get shot of losing positions and selling into any sign of a rally compounding or delaying the bottom you speak of.

It would appear that Zopa is offering excelent long term returns.

Well at least betting on the reversal at the Dow close still holds water, nice profit on Nikkei limit long and few points from off loading one of the ftse shorts covering my long dax(another war of attrition)Was that just a massive Monday morning blues with every long stop triggered between here and Shanghai

Cyners.. anyone.... what do you think to Zopa???.

Think its a good investment????.

thought it was some kind of hungarian goulash!

i now see it's some kind of financial animal, so would rather stick to the goulash!

LOL, nope.

We were talking about portfolio diversification yesterday if you remember, I forgot to mention I have a play on Zopa.

Check the site out, its a better reward than stocks at the moment.

.......... and safer imho.

Two threads about Zopa on here chaps, one in each room..just do the search.

Gold seems to be holding at $925, my silver trade is paying big dividends though.

Stan, strange it keeps asking me to upgrade my subs when I do search.

Good article on Zopa here...

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/investing-strategy/2009/03/02/a-new-asset-class-with-great-potential.aspx

"Stan, strange it keeps asking me to upgrade my subs when I do search."

How strange, I'll get them up for you.

Ig in independent sees 3300 as 'a' not necessarily 'the' bottom

I expect we will have reached the bottom when people have "stopped" asking the question "have we reached the bottom" -):

Closed out bit more of the long dax/short ftse pairstrade they were below parity last week,patience is required and an ability not to meddle which I find difficult!

f
join the club, the meddling club that is, even the sage owns up to it. i am still learning though and getting better, at non meddling that is.
i have also been most patient.
i have tightened up all of my stop losses on my shorts with ftse at this level, just to lock in profits before they evaporate. is that meddling? guess it is. anyway i havnt just closed out for no reason so still in with a chance of more profits. they may not get hit and prices might yet just keep a tumblng. they may not of course. technicals to me say further falls still to come, money management says take care, take profits when available. a rally will happen.
not too soon and yet not too late. how to know? tight stops is my answer.
i just dont want to give back all of my short profits to the market, ive done it too many times by holding on too long, both short and long.took me a long time to learn the lessons.
good luck to you and all
regards
jkd
ps it still doesn't deter me from still selling short when i see an opportunity.

just gone long at 3481 flyer but would kick myself if i didnt tight stop just a question of how far it may overun, or not at all and keep going lower we will see.
no regrets come what may
regards
jkd