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

markets have recovered sharply in the last few days on the euphoria that greece is not going bankrupt just yet ...... however, even setting that major issue aside, don't forget that there is a long w/e ahead in usa, so some sizeable profit-taking may be on the cards

DOW futures currently -3. Can't decide whether to take profit or hold over the w/e.

3 days is a long time H/C, so If in doubt.. get out is my motto nowadays -):

I though it was " If in doubt, do nowt" ?
I was fine until Cynic put doubt in my mind! [I think I may be getting required field syndrome! ;o)]

Harry - Can't believe you asked the question! Is it some sort of exam question for dummies?

I was trying to prompt a response as to whether anyone concurred with Cynic's prediction that there may be a friday afternoon sell-off, particularly in the light of an extended holiday in the U.S. Those with an IQ above or below 100 may answer. I'm not fussy!

I was thinking that the reason for the rise over the past week or so was to do with the end of quarter. Apparently though, according to a hedge fund manager on CNBC, whereas the confidence level was rock bottom last week (something I concur with!) the economic indicators have improved over the past 7-10 days which possibly explains the rise.

Whether it is a false dawn or not is a total gamble I would suggest. Why not sell half and cover your bases. If the market goes down, you'll be glad you sold half and if the market goes up you still have some running.

On Wednesday I put some OCO limit orders in to sell some of my larger Blue chips on any spike up on the Greek farce. The only one to get taken out was AV. @439 yesterday morning. Of course thats the one that is doing the best today! But at least its banked!

"I though it was " If in doubt, do nowt" ?" it can be, but you asked about a specific time scale i.e. over the weekend.. hence my reply.

It appears that worries were unfounded so far. DOW up 120 points.

So did you take a profit or not?

Yep. Sold YULC, EXPN & BRAM. Got the divi on all three and a small percentage of profit. Decided to let AFR run.
Am trying to target stocks with good divi, so now targeting DLAR, FGP and CHG to a lesser degree, though see growth potential in the sp with CHG. Thought about IMT, but graph not very inspiring.
June has been a bit of a grim month for me on the profit front, so glad to have locked in some gains.
No slow down in the DOW so far. Up 174 points!

Excellent.

harry -i think you'll find VOD offers a good yield too

Harry, my favourites for dividend + growth potential are NG. AV. VOD and BP. For pure dividend have a look at HICL, JLIF, MKLW and SDV.

Another on my list is SHRS - unfortunatley very thinly traded (as are MKLW & SDV).

yield @6.01%. ex dividend this Wednesday.

strong move towards 6100

Bugger

Have had a quick chat to a friend of mine studying Business Studies & Economics and he assures me that that is not a recognised fiscal term.

Closing in on a triple top?