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

Reuters, 19:38, Thursday 27 October 2011

Standard & Poor's has cut Cyprus' long-term credit rating by a notch to BBB

just adedd to short more at 5769

Europe's rescue euphoria threatened as Portugal enters 'Grecian vortex'

Charybdis?

The usual dilemma of whether this rise will continue or fizzle out today. Sell any stock now in profit, or buy more to ride the wave???

splat - I prefer the rolling stones - caught between a rock and a hard place (steel Wheels I think).

covered all at 5639 , 100 points done, and opened a bit at 5649 again since yankees may add up to loses from here a bit

Who are yankees/

American Confederate forces led by General Robert E Lee.
Now a generic term used for Americans.

New York baseball team ?......

Er its actually "those crazy Yanks" :-)

 Greek debt haircut of 50% would mean default, Fitch says
Fitch Ratings said the deal to impose a 50% loss on holders of Greek debt would amount to a default if it is accepted by investors. "The 50% nominal haircut on the proposed bond exchange would be viewed by the agency as a default event under its Distressed Debt Exchange criteria," Fitch said. However, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association has said that the determination depends on whether investors accept the loss as voluntary.

indeed!!

yep, them.. just closed all short 5602.. have to leave computer.

Down we go again!!

probably just some overdue profit-taking on last day of a very profitable month

umhh!

what a very ugly finish on wall street

fully expected ftse to open badly but not -120 as indicated at the moment

GDP figures are out today I think. (UK)

Yep - 9:30.