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

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

Don't blame you. Looking a bit bleak with miners & banks down.
Looks like retailers are going to have rough Xmas too, with low numbers of shoppers. I can see 'below expectation' reports coming from them in the New Year.
Did you bail out of BML also, cynic?

no ..... haven\'t looked at that one for the last few days ..... only have a modest stake there as it is so illiquid, but may (did not say does) have a bright long term future

interesting yesterday to see ftse take the lead moving 200 point\'s down, with the dow seemingly desperately trying to stay positive at the end of play. I only have holdings left in two companies now, and really am expecting a large correction soon.

I have the feeling there are plenty of investors waiting with cash to take advantage, I wonder how this may support any fall.

Dow is now looking very soggy indeed ..... shall at least sleep more comfortably having taken quite a lot of money off the table

Spitfire, in one, i dont trust the market one bit and have reduced from 10 holdings over the last two weeks down to 4 and awaiting a bigger drop...

i am certainly pondering shorting again, though whether individual stocks like SOLA or indices, have yet to decide

it seems we are all agreed, a correction is on the cards, the only nagging doubt I have is that in the past all correction or bear markets, haven't been anticipated and have come as a surprise.

just had another look at my charts on page 1 ...... very difficult to draw any conclusions not least because it is so uncertain as to whether or nor hoped-for support levels will indeed supply same

however, for the purpose of the exercise, let us suppose they will ......

FTSE ..... look for bounce from 6350 which is pretty much where it is likely to open on Monday ...... suspect it will dip quite sharply below that in early trades, so hope for a quick rebound, though that will be quite heavily dependent on where Dow is indicating.

FTSE 250 ...... cannot determine anything from the chart, but certainly looks more likley to fall than to challenge probably resistance at +/-10550

DOW ...... hope for support at about 13325 or 13225 or at worst, 13000

S&P ...... may get support at about 727 but could easily fall to 715 ...... below that gets a bit nasty

NASDAQ ..... unless markets continue to run scared, quite a good chance of a bounce from last night's closing level

only one thing matters , the 200ma on the DOW

don't particularly agree, but that is at 13325

they,ve been defending it for 3 days now , don,t expect anybody to agee , just my opinion