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

Stopped watching at noon.....came back now and it's a right how do you do : -71 points.....can't take anything for granted in this market.

.. and if you refer to the AFR thread, that is precisely my point.

Well that's the 'crucial' point (5175) breeched.
2517

Down 115 points on the DOW, so far.
Not good for the 'morrow.

"Not good for the 'morrow." generally no, but there could be some exceptions.

some much needed cheering economic news from US just out

The U.S. economy grew at 5.7% annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2009 -- fastest pace of increase in more than six years.

Good news though may mean less stimulus/liquidity and more imminent interest rate rises, or so the market seems to perceive it when it takes it's fancy.

Dollar Index at it's highest since last August, if it continues is this good news for stocks in view of what happened in November? Be interesting Indices don't seem to concerned at the moment.

I read the other day that a key pivot point for the FTSE was 5190. Should it finish below that level, further downside was expected.
Are you still in touch with your Guru, Cynic, to confirm or deny that?

it's the Dow that concerns me, as i really thought we would see a decent rally last night after the GDP numbers and also as people closed short positions at the end of a grim week ..... not so

5190 is indeed a key FTSE number and SHOULD provide support, though he suggested a stop loss at 5075/5100 ..... and after last night's beastliness in NY, 5135 is the indicated opening level for monday

very worrying times

despite the above, i do not buy into the double-dip recession fear .....

As published, US Q4 GDP rose by 5.7%
This doesnt look like a freak, as assuredly chemical shipments from US are continuing apace.

The implication is that companies (F/E?) are restocking in a hurry, but this does not necessarily apply directly to UK

Thanks. Was tempted to pump a bit more cash into the market (particularly the miners) next week to take advantage of the dip, but if there is further to drop, may just wait & watch.

My view is that it's just a normal pullback ; where is the bad news ?, it's already in the price of the drops....I reckon when all this pans out : ftse will jump up by 100 points very quickly as investors realise that the drop is overdone...when will this happen...can't say......could be triggered by an upsurge overnight on the Australian market...

timing is always the major or indeed the only issue ...... if we were vestal virgins we just might have a better idea of when that might be

Everybody was tipping gold only 2 weeks ago...now people are saying : told you so......it's just guesswork about when the rebound will come.....I would say : very tight stoplosses on the shorts....I made the mistake of going long on PVCS, made one profit and then got greedy for a second lot.....now I shall have to ride it out or take a bad loss.....this is a tricky market and I'm no expert...unless there is another banking disaster waiting in the wings I would like to think that a good recovery is going to happen with ftse putting a lot of weight on in the second half...it's just that at the moment the market has doubts.

i rather get the feeling that the market has (i hope had) taken too much + too soon recovery into the prices .... i don't see another banking crisis looming, and i suppose we'll get used to the galaxy-sized debt that the world has got itself into ..... certainly there are a lot of strong company results coming out, but with the markets distinctly bearish (at the moment), these are ignored and the stock is sold down regardless

I hope we don't get a snowball process that means that everybody starts selling....

ah well, there's the nub, and confess i keep vacillating between the two views ...... hard to imagine that monday will be cheery though, especially at opening - unless F/E takes an unexpectedly upbeat view of US GDP numbers ...... shall try to remember to post indicators here tomorrow night (if available) or earlyish monday morning

Speculation Speculation Speculation! I guess (emphasise the word guess) why trading these markets are so fascinating for me personally anyway, thank God I don't do this for a living. I have only been trading for four years as a hobby with money I can afford to lose but even with my limited experience, I have learned that fear and greed rule the roost, doesn't seem to matter whether their is good news or bad news out there, sentiment rules the day. Nobodys died yet! :o)

what a very difficult market this is ..... seems to me that one just has to suck one's teeth and take a position (or not) as to what's going to happen next.
for all that, it's certainly encouraging - and a great relief - to see both FTSE and Dow surging back up through their "failed" support levels ..... always provided it's not a 2 day wonder