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

ref : jkd....It's the price of gold and oil which is driving ftse higher....gold has a long way to go still....and at this rate if people are not buying "gold equities" then we might get to a stage when the building societies and banks might have to offer gold bars over the counter like at harrods as currencies become more and more devalued and of course the london stockexchange is full of oil companies and miners.

horrible housing start numbers ex USA, with the knock-on effect that gold gets another fillip

damned if i know how, but have actually managed a good profit in the market today ...... glad i (profitably) sold my modest Dow long just before the opening bell though

What's your mate say about FTSE/DOW levels to watch for cynic?

this was as at morning of monday 16th november ...... i certainly find him very good, though i often just use his advice/comment as general market guidance rather than to physically dabble in the indices

DOW
price at time of report = 10270
buy at open and double up if index falls to 10020
target 10780
stop loss <9650


FTSE
price at time of report = 5296
stay neutral but buy if market quickly drops back to 5200
possible short at 5461, buy back at 5300
target 5768
stop loss <9650

Many thanks

cynic
your mate seems to be pretty good,a sort of if this then that approach, without actually being so confident as to actually state price is going up or going down. i think it's most sensible. an if this,then that approach seems the only way.i'm trying to follow the market and not forecast it. thats why i as a bear(feeling/forecasting) am nett long(actual/ following) which, as we all know,going against our feeling and emotions aint an easy thing to do. i have what some might say divergance, my feelings will turn bullish when we break through and hold a new all time high on ftse OR when i see a higher swing low basis weekly chart which also holds and then breaks up through the high of this current rally,( if that is what it is) wherever it may end.We've done and tested a mega long term low support and it has held. next comes just the ordinary long term test of the resistance at higher levels,
we need long term spectacles to watch this play out. oh! and some patience also, although the ordinary long term might be upon us sooner than we think, maybe weeks or months rather than years, but still needs patience.
all just my opinion as always
regards
jkd

Bb
you could be right, it's going up forever.
rf
we could both be right, remember the bull within a bear? still too early to say.
good luck
regards
jkd

jkd ..... you waffle a lot ...... charts are only guides and tools and neither the gospel nor the koran ...... "my mate" merely reads the runes, but with a fair degree of accuracy

Still gambling playing the DOW @ FTSE ... play it day in and day out ,,its luck if you gain. Going to bed its 11.30 over here ,we've got a thunderstorm coming..

jb
my apologies, apologies to Bb also for my misunderstanding. my memory aint what it used to be, must remember dmor(dyor) lol.
cynic, thanks for that comment. made my own once, runes that is, hand picked and selected from brighton beach. pretty good at it as well, so i am told. nice to know i can still waffle. so thank you once again.
regards
jkd

Are we heading for a deep recession or depression that is the question.

The SM has a horrid look to it atm and conditions are as bad as pre-credit crunch with stocks now falling below rights issue prices. It is very difficult to predict where we go from here but atm I fear the worse with investors getting burnt a second time around. I guess the next few mnths will give us all the answers we need.

Well that's all clear then! I thought you were going to answer your own question dd!!!!

Short term, don't forget all that it's thanksgiving day in the States tomorrow and a short trading day on Friday.

Rough ol' day today on the markets, unless you happen to be heavily into utilities. Profit taking maybe before the w/e, or maybe everyone freeing up cash for the LLOY R/I ??? Or maybe just the LSE giving us incorrect figures!!!

Anybody with any news on this crazy drop ...why ?....

Dubai.
2517

Is that a flight number...?

I've enjoyed today less than a live turkey on an american menu .....

RF An extract from money morning
Then yesterday, state-owned conglomerate Dubai World, which is responsible for about $60bn of that $80bn in debt, turned around to its lenders and said: You know that money you gave us? Well, we need a bit more time to pay it back. Despite Dubais clear problems, the news came as a shock, to say the least. The cost of insuring against governments defaulting on their debt jumped, not just in the Emirates, but across the Gulf, reports Bloomberg.

And it couldn't have come at a worse time

So whats happened? The Government of Dubai has asked Dubai Worlds creditors to agree to a six-month standstill on the conglomerate's debts until at least 30 May 2010, while the company is restructured. Thats worrying enough. But what also concerned investors is that the Government of Dubai had also just raised a further $5bn from Abu Dhabi.

Now, according to FT Alphaville, traders had expected this money to be used to repay $3.5bn in bonds issued by Dubai Worlds property unit, Nakheel (the company which built the artificial palm tree resort much beloved by footballers). This $3.5bn loan falls due on 14 December. But now it wont be repaid until at least the end of May.

And just to add the icing on the cake, Dubai has now shut down for Eid, until early December, which could mean further details will be a while in coming.

As RBS analyst Okan Akin told City AM: The timing could not have been worse. After all, its not as though Nakheel investors have been given a lot of notice here. If youd been planning on that money being paid back soon, you might be a little annoyed, to say the least - particularly as Dubai has been swearing for months that it would meet its obligations without any problems. The Emirates ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum publicly pledged his support for the group and its obligations earlier this month, notes the FTs Lex column. Investors, perhaps foolishly, took him at his word.
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