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

A fairly substantial correction over the last two days, particularly on the FTSE250.
Just going to have to sit & brave it out, imo, with an eye to picking up some stocks at lower prices. Many seem top have dropped below their 25DMA with hopeful support at the 200DMA.

Dow now -91, so unless a late recovery, things looking very gruesome for tomorrow ahead of US GDP numbers

i am advised that if FTSE falls through 4950 and/or Dow through 9650, then watch out.
conversely, i guess one could argue that either/both indices should bounce from those levels too, or from a bit above them

Is this going to be like March ? ,i'll be surprised if it is ,,is this just a pullback ? Only holding 2 stocks myself....

What happened in March?

Market's turning...I will breathe a sigh of relief if this continues....

market is surprisingly strong, at least for the moment, but it's very likely to stay very skittish ahead of these US GDP numbers due today - not sure if those come out before market opens or half way trhough day

Cynic - GDP figures @12:30

Watching cnbc here and the GDP figures are looking good . Hopefully help the general market ,stop this rot.

Natural gas has shot up 16.5% to $5....in my book that's a very sharp increase.

The latest from Albert 'The Bear' Edwards (FT today):
"On my return after two weeks marketing I am left pondering whether the recent equity market retreat is any different from the pullbacks experienced at end of last month and indeed in June and July. Is this another pause that refreshes or the start of a rout?
One of the key conclusions from our late-1996 Ice Age thesis was that once the bubble burst, the close 35-year positive correlation between equity and bond yields would break down. This relationship had persisted for so long that it had become ingrained in investor psychology.
We knew though from Japan that in a post-bubble world, once bonds and equities had decoupled, that the equity market would mirror the economic and profits cycle. And so, despite Japan's structural equity bear market, one could enjoy numerous 50%+ rallies if one invested as the cyclical lead indicators bottomed out. Conversely one should have ALWAYS sold when these same lead indicators peaked out. After recent massive cyclical gains in equities, that extremely dangerous topping out phase looks as if it has begun."

So America out of recession!

Unemployment figures good as well ..

DOW futures +77.
"Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rallied, snapping a four-day losing streak for the Standard & Poors 500 Index, after economic growth topped estimates as the nation exited the worst recession in seven decades. Treasuries dropped and the dollar and yen weakened, while commodities rose.

The stock rally is not over yet, said Jeffrey Kleintop, who helps oversee about $247 billion as chief market strategist at LPL Financial in Boston. The stock market can celebrate. This news is an important confidence boost, in particular to individual investors.

And natural gas is up again 17.5% in one day...incredible...

Efficient markets ,,over the last 2 days definitely .. :-) .

Something has fundamentally changed in these markets over the past couple of weeks. Apart from yesterday which I believe was a lot of short covering, most small caps have now stopped moving again similar to what happened before the onset of the credit crunch. There are exceptions but the market in general has a nasty feel to it. I heard someone on CNBC say yesterday that the DOW almost collapsed 800 pts Wednesday night on a spike in the $.

I'm not short so have no vested interest in the market going down but I am being very careful atm. All the bounce in the market has gone. Even stocks that have dropped to their rights prices/ placements (BAO; GFRD secondary placement at 350p; DES to name just three) aren't rising which is very strange.

end of the month tidying up, perhaps we will see a fresh surge in november, then christmas and year end profit taking? All depends on US stats between now and 31/12.

Hopefully you are right Halifax but it feels more technical to me i.e. there isn't the liquidity to push stocks up.