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

Cynic no SER, your better than most in the sector stock. Cynic, DSGI getting slaughtered today even though profits of around 230m-240m for this year (admittedly down from 280m - 290m) and with a current capitalisation of 1.4B. OK divi will/should be cut, near term outlook grim, but PE around 6. I will be interested if you have a view on the sector. I don't hold DSGI atm.
2517

DSGI
big profit warning - what do you expect!
also it's a high street stock, which are particularly vulnerable and flakey for obvious reasons
don't touch!

SER
far too small for me, though as i have said, for a mini-minnow there are plenty worse bets


may get round to writing up my last 3/4 alternates in due course.
lex100 has not seen fit to disagree with my choices!

Cynic I saw the profits warning, thanks for your view which is a majority view atm, mine included, but there will come a time to buy selected stock in the sector. Re your picks, I hold BRR, I like TAN & PFC but don't know much about the other 3.
2517

wonder when the real news will sink in:

The nominal increase in new orders was more than double the 0.7% expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch, but the gains were largely an illusion of inflation. See Economic Calendar.
The figures confirm a softening in the manufacturing sector despite large increases in exports.
Orders for durable goods were weaker than reported a week ago, falling 0.1% instead rising 0.1% gain as initially reported. Orders for nondurable goods surged 3% on higher oil prices. Read the full report.
Excluding the 15.9% rise in petroleum orders, new orders fell 0.2%.

Cynic ,definitely PFC it's the only holding i have at the moment in this delicate market.

OK guys ..... post 485 gives you 10 stocks to consider for 2008; that does not mean that if you buy them should hold on like grim death ..... if they perform well, then don't be afraid to bank some profits; if they disappoint, then bite the bullet

Posted 03-01-2008 at 14:31
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IDEAL next target 6490 as per chart below.

No guarantees of course.

areshole! ... suspect you are an ADVFN refugee; if so, please consider yourself an unwanted and illegal immigrant and vamoose

LOL your name still fits I see

I thought everyone here were bored advfn refugees.

Good choices cynic, don't mean to start a thread here but couldn't resist adding Afren to the fray, only risk is it's in Nigeria but has very strong connections to government. About to start pumping 10,000 bopd for the first time, expects to increase to 40,000 by next year. See Thread..

have just looked and AFR does indeed have a very good chart pattern etc, but it is not a stock i have ver follolwed at all ..... fyi, all the ones i mention i currently hold (including VIY - lol!)

cynic cast an eye over WALP-it looks very promising to me. good interims in march should put this on the radar! I hope...

WALP seemingly not recognised - please check

Cynic,not been ignoring you,after my last post been out all day.Family had priority use of PC this evening!An interesting selection of stock picks to do further research & monitor.I see that you still have a weak spot for TAN.

TAN ... yes i do .... i think it is a very good company that makes real money and with excellent prospects .... i suspect current weakness may be partly due to weak $ and also overbought several months back

WALP is on plus markets and is not recognised on here but is on selftrade and a thread on the other side!

obviously a mini-mini-minnow and therefore effectively untradable by anyone

only while it's performance goes unnoticed---that's what I hope anyway! If I'd kept some of my mini minnows I'd be rich by now---datacash, hamworthy etc. on the other hand I'm still sitting on seo and look where that got me!

holding SEO should have got you certified!