The market seems to be selling-off on the back of limited bad news imo, apart from the dollar that is.

If you can hold your nerve and apart from any short term requirements to offload poor performing stocks, I have a couple!!, my advice would be sit tight. This does not have the feel of the tech(mining!) bubble at all. Difference being there are a lot of good fundamentals, unlike in 2000 when there were a lot of over rated nothing companies.

Looking the daily Dow, S&P & Nasdaq charts (via stockcharts.com), yesterday's sharp rise was only on average daily volume, and below that of the last few days. I will remain on the sidelines until there is a similar rise on above average volume.
Friday's US economic data could be the catalyst to swing the market one way or the other.

Steve

Obviously the market remains cautious this morning. FT in negative territory.

A lot of xd's hlyeo

have closed my Dow long with a modest but welcome o'night profit ..... will now be looking for a point at which to short

xd's worth -29 for FTSE this morning

forgot BARC going xd (19.8p) so slip there scared me death at first!

LLOY 23.6p too

anyway, have now gone short Dow though it just may have a little more rally left in it (up to 100 pts)

although still majority in the market i have trimmed down some holdings and would actually like to see another dip now, perhaps to give an even better buying op, although i'm sure if it were a big drop, people will start to claim its the start of a bear cycle... difficult to call the next move, but am inclined to agree with my friend, the cynic, we are not out of the woods yet...

ian - perhaps your glass is always half empty!!! mine on this occasssion is half full, and it looks like paying off at the moment, nothing to do with greed.

Personally I would be inclined to lock in any profits before friday, just in case we see another drop, which I think is likely.

in that case, please either set stop losses and/or keep a permanent eye on things with a view to jumping quickly as necessary

Why not hedge by taking out a spreadbet short to cover some if not all of the potential loss on your investments?

One thing to remember while bargain hunting. You might be able to buy outside the market size for a share, but if the MM's don't want them back again, they won't let you sell outside the market size, at least not at the quoted price. You probably won't be able to sell online either through the RSP, and might need to place a limit order or contact your broker to sell. Of course all the bargain hunters are buying for the long term, so selling won't be an issue...... ;-)

In my opinion etc.

Strawbs

As Giles/Steve says above, Friday's US unemployment figures may prove a marker for market movements over here.

Caution required I think.

Late FTSE rally was a bit unexpected. Maybe current levels now looking a bit shaky as the DOW now down.
I still think that the end of the week will be down on current levels, but am happy to be corrected if anyone thinks differently.

Dow has finished soggy even if marginally ahead ...... Thursday may well turn out twitchy

With the Yen gaining strength against the dollar again (currently 115.8), I suspect "carry trade" worries will be in traders minds again..... It could also add some nervousness to Asian trade later tonight. Non farm payrolls on Friday might also fuel or flatten the fire.

Strawbs.

Looks like we are in for another roller coaster ride tomorrow. Put on your seat belts. Dow in steep decline at finishing minutes.

that was my prognostication, but IG indicate strong opening for bothe FTSE and Dow ...... but not inclined to believe that the latter (in particular) will hold.

another indicator of nastiness ahead (i think) is the sudden surge in house prices yet again BUT, from an insider (not me), there are strong indications that come autumn the housing market will have turned pretty sour.

also suggest you take a peek at the Telegraph Biz headline article this morning ...... "Turmoil forces hedge fund to slah investment target by 40%" ...... and another lead article, "Stealth tax threat to private equity"