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

This seems to be what finally sent the DOW reeling:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- "General Motors Corp. said in a government filing Thursday that its accounting firm has found there is "substantial doubt" about the automaker's ability to survive.

The embattled automaker made the disclosure in a 480-page filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

The filing's grim tone is not a surprise. GM has sustained large and continuing losses that have now reached $82 billion over the last four years. It had previously said it needed additional federal loans, coupled with improved sales, to remain in business.

GM said in a separate statement that it is confident it will be able to turn around the business if it gets the federal help it is seeking and when consumer demand for autos returns."

Well went long ftse just after the us close.

In at 3503 stop now at 3497 will see what happens low risk trade plenty of upside potential imo

3476 was said to be key number, so your call is prob pretty good, though you may want to consider givinbg yourself a little more headroom ..... 6 points is less than nothing

Signalwatch sees Dow 6500 as the bottom of this channel,nearly got there last night

closed ftse long +27

Help please.
Can anyone suggest a reliable alternative provider for FTSE live streaming charts,
moneyam charts are just to unreliable.

Even one that's not totally reliable, but better than moneyam will do.

I'm using the FTSE intraday chart here. There have been problems but it appears to be working over the last couple of days.

(RTTNews) - Employment continued to decline in the month of February, helping to drive the nation's unemployment rate to its highest level in over 25 years. The drop in jobs marked the fourteenth consecutive month of job losses.

The Labor Department released a report on Friday showing that non-farm payroll employment fell by 651,000 jobs in February, with the decrease coming in roughly in line with economist estimates of a decrease of 650,000 jobs.

Could be worst then, lets see what the Dow thinks.

dealerdear
Just thought someone may have a more reliable provider, thanks anyway.
Looks like It's gone again.

Hi Bud

I don't use it myself but it might be worth trying the one on advfn.

Budd,

We are just taking a look at that java chart - thanks for pointing it out,

Ian

spitfire43
Thanks, I will take a look.

Thanks Signalwatch I owe you a pint!

even i managed a quick 200 or so ..... arguably should have held on after the bell, but no complaints

if it had been a weekday would have shorted after the bell (around 21.14) but to risky for me over the weekend.

a bit dosy, but managed to bank a very decent profit on FTSE long, and am now short Dow o'night .... had i been half awake, wouod have got that on at a better price, but shall be happy to bank a modest profit over breakfast - i hope

Assuming the NIKKEI follows in the footsteps of the DOW & FTSE, would you not expect the DOW to continue it's upward movement, albeit at a slower pace? Profit taking at some point, but not yet I hope.

after big movements either way, Dow tends to move in the opposite direction o'night .... nevertheless, have put in a sensible stop

Normally I would agree with you - but there seems to be a bit of momentum on this one. I went the other way - but again with tight stops.

Seems that this rally is related to possible abandonment of mark to market regulations,originally derived from Enron. This is meant to happen on 12th.March, a little on it on yesterday's Market Ticker.Good for banks because they can transform their balance sheet by no longer having to be honest about their assets/liabilities, not that has stopped Narclay's!Buy on rumour sell on fact?