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

That was one serious volatile day on the Dow all rumour and news driven. Managed to scalp 48 points at the end. Crazy Yanks!

Unemployment rate unchanged 7.7%

relative rubbish finish in usa albeit it was +46 ...... prob another unsettled day in london ahead ..... glad i made a good trade on GOOG .... not big profit, but welcome nevertheless

not big .. but you will need more of it soon...:)

dow was +70 at one point earlier but is now -20 ..... let's hope there isn't a general collapse again towards the close

cynic are running a FTSE short?

no, and unfortunately also closed out a goog long before i went out to dinner .... they've bolted after hours

I think you may have been lucky on google!

i would have been had i continued to hold!

I meant getting out - it closed -9.32 (-1.7%)!

after hours in usa (i had nasdaq stock) sp shot up by 10% following results!

Ok as long as you made a bit - my figs are Nasdaq btw - closed 528.94 -9.32 high 542 low 526.73. The only reason I mentioned them is because I used to trade them fairly often. I'm not sure where they are going from here on - development wise.

A tricky week predicted in the U.S.
"NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Wall Street will be awash in corporate news this week, as some the nation's largest and most influential companies report their quarterly results.

In total, more than a fifth of the S&P 500 and half of the 30-member Dow Jones industrial average will report their results this week, including General Electric (GE, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500), McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500), Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) and IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) just to name a half dozen.

Investors expect this week to be a pivotal moment for the market. U.S. stocks have struggled in the past three months in part because of growing concerns that the struggling U.S. economy may start impacting corporate profits. "

very dangerous times

DOW futures -91.

my chartist guru remains remarkably (i think) bullish about both ftse and dow ...... i confess i do not share his sanguinity, but nor am i brave enough to short other than ASC and RBS

Room on the fence for one more!

I'm taking quite a pounding on some of my big holdings AV, SL down 2.8% and 2.2& respectively. Best blue is CEY +2.2%.

I'm not even trading today, Cap Spreads have changed their charting package which is a complete joke! They have obviously never heard the expression 'if it isn't broke, why fix it' Pillocks!!!

delighted to hear it chris ..... i think it's a time to sit on one's hands or even to take money off the table