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

bears on the run where to next FTSE 5000 DOW 11500?

considering the strong run we have had, Dow finished quite reasonably down about 77 after more than double that ..... however, Nymex was down about $3 ...... unless anything horrid over w/e, London should have a reasonable start on Monday

Ironic that Japan Germany and France have announced they are coming out of recession and the markets tank!(or perhaps not, bull trap) Copper/oil have taken a hiding though. Will they buy this drop up seems to be the question, has sentiment turned, is this the resumption of the bear market or merely a pull back, no doubt wall street will decide? If the bots start selling instead of buying...

on 17th August i opened a modest long in FTSE at 4636, and despite today's rollercoaster, it is again substantially in the money.

my charting guru (not PTH this time), suggests a stop at 4450 and a target of 5190 ..... not sure that i shall hold that long, but thought you other guys n gals might like a view

I'm not sure i'd have the cahonies to go long on the FTSE right now cynic ,not after the strong run and it being August ,i keep thinking we're going to take a step back ,,i'm probably going to be wrong though..
I'll watch carefully..

fyi, note that Dow is currently +80 ...... my FTSE long is based solely on chart logic, if there is such a thing ...... you can also take a position at 2.00 a point via IG.

try cojones - rognons blancs in french and said to be surprisingly tasty

I don't speak french so i won't be ordering those they could be dogs bollocks for all i know . I tend to have very mixed results (thats english for losing by the way)when i trade indicies.

I don't know how we're talking food here but should anybody be in the southwest and rhone regions in France then try the "truite aux amandes" ( fresh trout, river fish with almonds) really good most of the time....anyway footsie is doing incredibly well....what a bull run...I will need a weekend break from this...once again : what a rise !.

very 70s! you'll be suggesting truite au bleu soon ..... meanwhile am more than pleased about the modest FTSE long i opened the other day ...... shall let it run with trailing stop

Did a BG. run in and out today....very nice.

this is all beginning to look fearfully frothy ...... however, like most here i guess, i keep looking at my portfolio and find myself paralysed by greed! ..... that is to say, i feel quite strongly that i should reduce exposure, but in virtually all cases, there is persuasion that there is still more upside - e.g. PXS and even CRA

with oilies, whether minnows or proper, there remains the persistent feeling that a bonanza is imminent - e.g. GKP - or a t/o a growing possibility - e.g. TLW and PMO

for sure a luxury problem at the moment, but i don't want to find myself wringing my hands in a week or two

How about just a big slowdown ?? ,i have been thinking that we are in for a third big dip ,we had Oct /Mar and i was predicting another in aug a third dip with a higher low ,however i still have my money in as i don't want to miss out.

It seems that every day more news comes from the US that things are stablising so maybe i'm wrong and i'm not going to go against the market.
Maybe we will slowdown and get the few down days instead of a big crash.

that's called greed! .... don't forget that the markets are always looking forward 6+ months, so an awful lot of ghope and good news is already inbuilt

I agree ,that's why i'm expecting a big slowdown at some point ,maybe not a huge crash ,+ i'm not trading day to day,, i have what i would call recovery stocks that i intend to hold in to next year ,however if it starts to go pearshaped i will bail out ,very hard to call though...

you'll be too late

If that's your view ,i take it your out then .

i have been trimming this morning for sure ..... profit in bank = profit ..... profit on paper = zilch

Very true ,and i have done my usual sell half when there's a profit and hang on to the rest ..

I too have been taking money off the table over recent weeks, in some cases selling too early, but a profit is a profit and I have felt the market has gone too far for the deep s--- we have had inflicted on us by our inept gov. AIMO of course.
2517

Huge spike in overnight futures had ftse upto 4950! Always easiest to manipulate when volume is light on a Sunday night