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

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

had a trailing stop which worked very well as had my long shut at 4895 for a very nice profit, especially considering the modest outlay

I did the opposite and shorted from 4910-4880,bear points are few and far between at the moment though there is some rumblings that September may show a change in the weather.Even Odey asset management I gather are dumbfounded by the rally

this is a totally loony day!
i don't think i have ever seen my portfolio increase this much in a single session, though i'm damn sure i have seen the reverse

Yes not exactly rocket science of late!

I think we are all getting nervous now that the market has seen many stocks surge ahead, possibly too far, too fast.
"Since bottoming at a 12-1/2 year low on March 9, the S&P 500 is up 52% as of Tuesday afternoon. The pace and breadth of the run up has left many Wall Streeters calling for a big selloff in September and October. But so far, there has been no indication of that.

"Generally, the market keeps moving higher even though so-called experts are saying it's overbought," said Terry Morris, senior equity manager, National Penn Investors Trust. "It's surprisingly strong. Maybe we have turned a corner."

Full article here:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/25/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?postversion=2009082516

Labour Day in the U.S. Monday 7th Sept '09. Volume expected to be thin in the days leading up to the long w/e, according to Bloomberg.

surprisingly strong finish on Wall street tonight (+60) presages at least a good start to the morrow in London

dont know what to make of this. looks for all the world that a major pull back is overdue. where is it? i dont know. my charts would suggest another 150/200 points rise is still possible on ftse before we see it, or not, as the case may be. fwiw im still long and bearish. LoL
regards
jkd

NO ITS GOING UP FOREVER!!! :-)

jb
you could be right. however im starting to get nervous.ftse is now up approx 100 points from my last post. everyone seems so bullish, lots of individual stocks making "break outs" from low formations etc. it just seems too gooood to be true. ive decided im going to sit tight and stick with what i have for the time being, i.e.im not buying any more for a week or two or more. famous last words. Lol. doesnt anyone sell anymore?
regards
jkd

Take profits then & lock them in. Wait for a downturn, which I agree is probably coming soon. Time to be looking at gold stocks if so, as a safe(?) haven. The main exceptions are the oil explorers, imo, which are news driven & probably worth holding for 'duster or gusher' RNS.

Were the FTSE is leading to