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

GS numbers look vile .... earnings just $613m = down 82%

Not great news on the housing front either:

US housing starts hit their lowest level in eight months in June, further evidence the economy lost momentum in the second quarter, but a rise in permits offered hope that homebuilding was poised to pick up.

'The Commerce Department said Tuesday housing starts dropped 5.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 549,000 units, the lowest since October. It was the second straight month of declines in groundbreaking activity and was well below market expectations for a 580,000-unit rate.

Toya

I hope this helps.

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5895543_dow-futures-fair-value-calculated_.html

That's very helpful indeed - many thanks ShareCruiser!

I've been listening to Ben Bernanke's testimony on Monetary Policy since 7pm this evening - still going on. It's been very interesting (and to a certain extent profitable) to watch the markets move at the same time - took a real dive!

It's all down to BB using the words 'unexpected & uncertain'. Once he failed to allay the fears that the worst was over, the DOW headed downwards.

Yes - quite marked reaction on the chart to particular words! It'll be interesting to see which way the DOW will travel tomorrow.

I didn't know I had such power.........BB

Lol!

Don't know what anybody else thinks but this feels like a lot of people have been burnt today and the rise is short covering

Looks like BB's words had a short lived effect. Lots of data out of the U.S. boosting DOW. AT&T, Xerox, Qualcomm & UPS all producing good quarterly figures. It all seems a bit knee jerk. Very fickle.

Too right Harrycat - I had my shorts on and am quite singed! Not at all sure whether to hope for a downturn tomorrow or admit defeat tonight and lose a load. Pity, cos I did so well last night while BB was talking...

decline to comment!

Such a gentleman cynic!
Think I'll keep the shorts on for a while - already feeling a bit looser than they were half an hour ago.

if you are going to remove them, you'ld better warn everyone to avert their eyes
heaven knows what they might see!!

a pair of french knickers i would think.,.

currently dow indicating london in for a bit of a bleak start tomorrow

Not SMDR Cynic hope you are still in for the big ride upwards.

Legal & General, RSA Group, Aviva, Old Mutual, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Chartered, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland all set to report figures next week. Might see a good week for all the financial stocks & FTSE (assuming the trend isn't to 'sell on fact'.). Looks like the banks are going to lead the way; just hope the insurers have good margins to report.

Non-farm payroll figures coming up from the U.S. Am expecting below expectations data. Short DOW?

hope you didn't harry as you'ld have got your fingers quite badly burnt

on a different matter, i'm amazed that there is no thread here (Traders' Room) on CNT ...... that stock is a godsend for traders even at the current very depressed level