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

short at 6532 on ftse

only a smallish position, hopefully correct call ?

ps - before I traded I taped my list of Golden rules above computer. Should stop me doing anything stupid.

I thought someone once said "Rules are made to be broken".
And also, while I am on the subject of quotations, there is quite a good one in Shares Mag this week: " People often cite the tax advantages of spread betting, but you can be assured that if people generally made money from betting, then the Chancellor would tax it." Hope you are making a living from it, spit!

stopped out at 6552 for 20 point loss,

not making a living with this, but only placing small positions while learning, still have alot to to learn.

Also from my neck of the woods, 3 local and not insubstantial developers have gone to the wall through oversupply of 2 bed flats in the last month as Nat-west manager got carried away and bosses found out and called in loans, several of them owing substantial sums to other contractors, another contact of mine has stock overhang for a year now and is not developing any further until they shift.

Add in our own inflated buy to let crowds reducing yields and locally at least things are turning for the worst, this is an area where we have average house price of 260k and average earnings of 22k, quite a multiple, isn't it.

There can be little doubt in my mind that things will turn down, we will probably follow in US footsteps as all the data would suggest significant slow down.


Have entered a short on dow to open at 13850 for feb, if it goes up significantly before fed decision then will move it on

moved short to current level and opened at 13720 with tight stop, looking bearish to me, will re-evaluate at 7pm when next free to look at the screen.

so, only a quarter % cut then... lets bring on the next correction! I'm ready...

DOW & NIKKEI both down overnight.
I imagine you shorters are riding the FTSE down as well?
U.S. trade balance & Treasury budget figures out today, with jobless claims & money supply figures out tomorrow. Shorting all the way to the weekend on the cards???

Sticking with it at the moment, ftse struggling to get to 6500, if there's profit taking in the miners soon plus a bit of mixed or ominous data, which is more likely than not, then we'll be heading south again.

As I write this it makes a good attempt.

DOW futures currently +95, so don't take my word for it that shorting is the way to go!

Am looking at a long term short, not day trading as I am often away from my screen for prolonged periods so daily volatility, would scupper me more often than not.

After such a volatile day on dow am considering sticking to stocks!!! Not good for the nerves.

short SOLA then

if mr elliot is right then the dow will now go below 12.7k

for alan greenspan;

The Grinchspan Song (with apologies to Dr. Seuss)

You're a sly one, Mr. G.
You really are a heel
You told us all to get a great mortgage deal
And then laughed as we slipped on that banana peel.
You're really quite a meanie, Mr. Greenie.

You're a rotter, Mr. G.
Without a spotter of kindness.
First you say you couldn't have guessed
That freer credit would create such a mess.
Now today you say
It was an "accident waiting to happen."
You can't have it both ways, Mr. 'Span.

You're as charming as an attack dog, Mr. G.
You're full of rotten egg nog
That you are.
Do you see a long hard slog
For the economy to get back in shape
Now that you've lost the Superman cape?
You're really quite a Grinch, Mr. G.

steveo - I\'m sidelined at moment, finding ftse hard to call, will keep a close eye on ftse and try and improve trading method before returning.

Like you I will be looking at trading stocks, when I spot the opportunity, as Cynic says SOLA is one to follow, as always it down to the timing.

Good luck.......

Maddocter - I don't know about apologies to Dr Seuss, I think apologies to Roger Waters would be in order.

still think RIO looks a good bet for t/o, so a fairly good price to buy at today

what a bloodbath while i was flying home! ...... however, unless i am much mistaken US was also dow (quite a?) bit at London close, but ultimately managed to finish +50 or thereabouts.

i note in particular that RIO got hammered (so did i!), but that may well have been just general fall-out in the mining sector, albeit that copper continues to drift - not exactly a plus point for RIO ...... nevertheless, the bid talks still seem very much alive, and as i said yesterday, far too early as it happens, this could make a very profitable investment.

my other fave that took a bit of a beating was SCHE as some of the directors offloaded stock ahead of GB's penal CGT reforms ...... this remains a first class company with results proving the point time after time ...... well worth a further look

have bailed out of lots today, more to reduce exposure than anything else ...... may even reduce further in the coming days as would much rather miss a sustained rally than fret in a plummeting market