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

and now watch the gov't stop everything dead in it's tracks by enforcing limitation on mortgages to 3x salary ..... i wonder if there will be any allowance made for joint salaries or if it will be main earner only.

as it is, the banks and building societies virtually refuse to offer mortages unless the buyer can put up 20/25%, which of course is out of the question for nearly all first time buyers

No point bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted,though try telling that to the Government. They know it, but think they are being seen to do the right thing by the voters

Of course that is only going back to the conditions that existed 25+ years ago when some of us bought our first house and it was normal to have to put up 20% deposit and be limited to 2.5x salary.

The present government policy on the economy (including housing) is bound to fail because they are in effect throwing money at it trying to restore the conditions that caused Armageddon in the first place. There may well be a partial recovery but that will just be the prelude to another collapse.

Not that I blame the government entirely. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either they accept that the economy was on fire and desperately needed to contract, so let it contract and lose their jobs, or they pretend that they can change everything with a few tweaks here and there and waste billions achieving precisely nothing and still lose their jobs.

I'll buy another house when prices are at 3 times earnings and not before.

i think your memory is faulty, or perhaps mine is ..... my first flat was bought in 1972 and i am sure just 10% deposit was required and certainly 3x salary was allowed - may actually have been 3.5x; also second income also came into play, though not with full multiple

Falco .... you'd better start earning more then!

I seem to remember 3x single income or 2.5x joint income, but yes my memory is probably faulty :-) Also 90% mortgages were possible but you had to pay for a mortgage protection policy.

Yes cynic my target price, for a 3 bed semi is 30 based on my 3 times earnings!

Ah yes I've got, it was 3x single income + 1x partner's income, with sometimes an alternative of 2.5x joint income.

that sounds about right, but deposit was 10%, would you now agreee

Yes but 90% mortgages were seen as stretching things and you had to pay for the insurance which of course covered the building society and not you.

The basic problem with the economy is that few people save any more. Either you carry on with people not having to save, in which case by definition the economy is founded on credit with all the excesses and danger to the unwise that that brings (and the need for large and comprehensive safety nets), or you go back to people needing to save for the future, in which case the economy has got to contract hugely while people save the money they would otherwise be spending.

My guess is that the effect of the credit bubble will be to go back to a savings-based economy which will have to be smaller than now.

My nearly all blue stockwatch screen has now turned red, with a few notable exceptions (VPC, PCI etc). DOW futures were gently drifting into negative territory all morning which was possibly a warning sign. Profit taking or worse???

"Profit taking or worse???"... probably yes and yes H -):

2.5 times single income and 90% up front when I got my first mortgage back in 84 and I worked for the Halifax.

That usually was the norm and 2.5 was stretching it a bit, it was normally 2 times annual salary. 1/2 salary added on for her indoors.

What a bull trap or should I say what a bull spike trap in a bear market this morning. Got well and truly shafted.

Feel rather miffed, not because I lost dosh but because this market was feeling more like the real deal. To cap it all the CPU started to play up on my PC and I lost all the windows, the little barsteward. i did a basil fawlty on it giving it a good thrashing with my silly pointy hat.

Just goes to show cyners I can and do own up if Im not cutting the mustard.

Forgot to mention, got shot of four stockscreeners ive been using since december on my trading system and now only left with one with about a dozen low beta stocks in, and nearlly all are blue........ to my suprise........mind they arent big gainers bar derwent.

Not sure what to make of what the immediate future brings.... HC, cyners, cyril anyone... any ideas???.

Really not sure. Gold & most precious metals are disappointing, oil is going up but I keep reading contrary opinions on where the crude price is going (those countries which are not part of OPEC seem content to pump oil at any price). Banks are risky but at least provide a trading opportunity, but I am reluctant to pile in to anything at the moment as I suspect more bad news to come. Gaming stocks seem to be slowly creeping up & may benefit from punters who seem to gamble no matter what, together with hope that the U.S may relax their laws.
I regularly trade CLE but only in smallish quantities, but keeping cash back at the moment.

Yep its rather gloomy again isnt it after a good few days.

Not even silver or gold to turn to.

Might get a bit of early gardening done.

March 18 (Bloomberg) -- "The Federal Reserve plans to buy $300 billion in Treasury securities and acquire more mortgage and agency debt in an effort to bolster housing and hasten the end of the recession.

Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is opening a new front in monetary policy after unemployment climbed to 8.1 percent and economists forecast the economy will shrink through the middle of the year. Fed officials also kept the benchmark interest rate at between zero and 0.25 percent and said it will consider expanding the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility to include other financial assets, the statement said.

We are not even close to the bottom and therefore the Fed is engaging in a massive quantitative easing, William Poole, former president of the St. Louis Fed, said in an interview today with Bloomberg News. 'We still have a very serious recession in front of us,' said Poole."

DOW went -120 then +120, now +50. All over the place! But I suppose money to be made for those who can stay glued to a screen.

guys re your comments on property this is classic bull trap territory, you can't have the biggest downturn since ww2 or great depression and expect the bear market to bottom out after just 18 months when the average is 4 years.

I expect prices to continue to fall in inflation adjusted terms for another 4 years from here, who knows we may have a Japan style slump for much longer. There will always be local markets but this is far from over in all markets.

I'd be surprised if ftse manages to get to and stay over 4300 for very long, probably struggle to clear 4000, earnings will continue to disappoint as debt is repaid, banks will continue to have write downs, unemployment and consumer sentiment will continue to deteriorate for the next few months, as stats show fastest deterioration in decades. I expect we'll have another sell off come May June if not in the next few weeks.

God knows what that'll stir up, fear will return at some point, doom and gloom sucks, but there are always gems out there, if you find some let me know!!

I don't think we'll see Strawbs back yet!!!