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

skinny - 19:15 UK time from memory

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one quite serious glimmer of hope, though it won't do anything for the markets this week, is that chemical exports from USA have suddenly rocketed within the last few weeks ..... the implication of that is not just that US prices now look cheap, but that the end-users are starting to restock - much of it in F/E at a guess

Thanks Cynic.

I bet he doesn't speak from memory cynic :-)

good job he doesn't, cos he's not on stage until later ..... it's Fed report at 19:15 uk time

hold your breath guys n dolls ..... dow looks to be trying to end in positive territory

Short squeeze might be quite interesting

Hopefully a wee bounce on the FTSE tomorrow:
"US shares recovered after the Federal Reserve held interest rates at near zero, while Apple launched its eagerly awaited iPad tablet computer.

Dow Jones closed up 41 at 10,236. Nasdaq added 17 at 2,221 while the S&P 500 added 5 at 1,097.

In its keenly watched statement, the Fed keep its stance on the economy little changed from last time, suggesting it has continued to strengthen since December's meeting."

london is bound to open strong (indicating +58) to very strong today, and even TLW my regain some ground! ..... strong in NY followed by big bounce (i think) in F/E ....... question is whether or not the gains can be held

Most of the commodity stocks looked like they had broken to the downside of the channel bottom re. Chinese tightening, seasonal drop, profit taking maybe it was a fake out and they are on their way up again or is it a dcb?

Lots of questions, guys, but definitive answers would be appreciated before I invest!

definitive like what? ..... no guarantees in this game, that's for sure

Definitive like: 'Yes, it's a dcb, so wait' or 'Yes, the gains can be held, so pile in now'. Stuff like that! ;o)

oh that's really definitive and def from God's mouth!
the brave man would have bought Dow or even FTSE last night when levels were "definitively" on the support levels - but i for one sure wasn't brave enough

So what sort of consultancy fee were you thinking of paying HC for such valuable guesses.. opps I mean answers? -):

000's and 000's!

LOL!!!!! Perhaps a few of my GOO or VOG shares as payment would be appreciated!

you want MONEY for those??????

Sorry HC, cash is king.

Technically you should be most highly leveraged in bullish/bearish mode at key support resistance levels especially when hit the first time. They are good to lean against however counterintuitive that seems with the false breakouts testing stops, meaning stops need to be a bit further than the norm

Most miners now turned negative again after a strong start. DCB looks to be correct.