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

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks tumbled early Thursday after a rise in weekly jobless claims sent an alarm ahead of the big monthly employment report. "We may well see some nervous trading until we get the proper payrolls [report] tomorrow," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Markets in London, referring to the government's monthly employment figures due Friday.

Tricky market to play this.....you could just as well have a blue day with it swinging up by the same amount.....

Question.

When NFP comes out tomorrow won't the expected bad news already be factored into the price?

I hope so.....stuck in positions and hoping that we don't drop much further...

glad i took money off the table this morning, though it often proves to be not enough ...... tomorrow's numbers aleady in today's horror story? ..... one would like to think so, but difficult to bet that that is so

I'm hoping for a rebound because any further falls will force me into closing positions...and I don't want to do that as in a few months things will look a lot, lot better.

Don't panic Captain Mainwaring!

Not looking good....bloody american markets...they go down so do we..they go up so do we...aaaggghhh....

These are the days I look to accumulate stock, I reckon we will have several more of them to come over the next 3 months or so.
2517

FTSE key number is 5100
having fallen sharply through that first thing this morning, it's trying hard to recover that ground
almost needless to say, the key will be NFP numbers in USA and how Dow reacts to same

not a bundle of laughs at the moment except for those with the prescience to go short - actual and not just saying so!

DOW futures only -9 atm, which is a little ray of hope.

Cynic,

I would like to report that I have been short for the last 2 days,

I can't.


I remained the same height.

It is a little painful.

stupid boy, pike!

4 or 5 Heavyweights report next week.
2517

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to say that 824,000 more jobs were lost than previously thought during the April 2008 to May 2009 period.


decline to comment!!!!

Cynic,
from Marketwatch:
"Despite what you may have read, the payroll revision isn't a secret. It was first reported in October, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that the benchmark revision to the establishment survey would total an incredible negative 824,000 from April 2008 through March 2009. The actual revision will be announced on Friday. "

So the news isn't new but what will be market moving will be the divergence from that previously announced estimate. That aside the figures are still shocking in the current market!

volatility returning beware!

At least it makes it easier to make money even if the opposite is true!

DOW futures -35.
Can't make my mind up what to do. Probably nothing atm.

Harry, If in doubt do nowt.. can be a good maxim.