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

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!!!

agreed steveo - hence I'm short the Dow @ 7482 :-0

Correct Steveo. You won't see me back yet. But I continue to read (if not post). My guess is the FTSE will struggle to get over 4000 short term, and I still feel a medium term (2 year) target of around 2500 is still a possibility.

In my opinion.... ;-)

Strawbs.

Cracking day for Miners, Banks and Oils yet footsie only up 11.

Insurers and defensives down, dow down 80 odd pts. contributed I suppose.

Know doubt Greystones update will show all..he's a bit late today.

Good to see your still around Strawbs -):

Looks like resistance forming already, doesn't bode well. Unless you are a gold bug of course. Have long since given up playing ftse, but it really does seem to be playing out as I expect, since I stopped playing it!!

Won't get back involved in it as i'll get it wrong!!

Sticking to gold and oil at the moment and all decent associated stocks, except HGM which is really letting me down. Surely thats due a tick up soon.

i suspect that NY will finish firmly(???) down tonight as it has had a good run, it's the end of the week and a breather may be in order.

more of a problem is determining the next course and how to react ..... at least for the moment, the markets look keen to keep heading north, but it really is difficult to convince oneself that the bottom really has been reached, or at least that there will not be some very sharp and nasty corrections.

so, does one start taking money off the table already - trusting you have all had a succesful few days - or does one run the profits, and if so, to what sort of level?

You may be right about the DOW this evening, but a little surprising the FTSE didn't do the same thing. Sentiment seems to be more positive in the U.K. than in the U.S. at the moment. NIKKEI also shut which lessens any negative sentiment.
In the U.S. mini futures & treasury note options expire today. Not sure exactly how that impacts on the market over there, but maybe that's why the DOW is more volatile than the FTSE today? Hope someone more knowledgeable can comment on that.
Not yet time to lock in profits yet, imo, but worth setting stops if you can't regularly watch a screen.

Harry, considering your comments ftse might benefit from commodities rating as dollar weakens, but is down at futures close, sentiment doesn't seem to sustain rally, I have feeling doubts are setting in again and all we have witnessed is a technical rally.

In my opinion it is not long before fear overcomes greed and we see a downturn and retest of lows.

Could be consolidation before a move higher but as every day passes and bad news continues it is more likely to be a move down.

The big question is whether this is the last one, each time it gets more tempting and more opportunities arise.

Ultimately a question of strategy, personally I don't believe the bullish Hype yet.

I wonder, in that case, if this year is going to be very much a case of 'Go away in may........?'

Absolutely H.

Where are you planning to go Stan?

Amar