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

very scary if you ask me, though a hefty bounce is not out quite of the question ..... ftse crashed through its important support of 5300 and dow is struggling badly to get back above the key 11500

All manner of support levels breached today on both sides of the pond. The most recent correction (as it turned out out) came at the end of a long bull run. We haven't really stabilised after that correction and we're off down again.

I think 10600 is certainly on the cards now and 10000 not out of the question.

I will gladly be proven wrong.

Oh and whilst a hefty bounce is always a possibiity, the yanks have shown no sign whatsoever of wishing to buy heavily into this market. I did wonder on Thursday night if the fabled plunge protection team had swung into action as the DOW put on about 80 pts in the last few seconds before the close.

Currently 130 pts above the low, hope it continues, there is still a 40 pt gap to fill at 11750.

DOW back to 11500, already 40 pts down after the close. Not looking too clever for tomorrow.

Might be worth a dabble on AAPL - US agency says Apple did not violate HTC patents

FOMC minutes at 1900.

AAPL up 2% atm - I did nothing.

11500 looks busted on the DOW

5200 will surely go on the FTSE tomorrow?

Yes its not looking too clever!

i've lost enough on the markets this year and have cashed in everything, not least because i see only doom and gloom for the immediate forseeable

It may well transpire that is the best trade of the year!

certainly looking to have been at least a very prudent move, though i hated having to crystalise the losses .... whether or not i shall short anything remains to be seen; haven't yet given it too much thought

Bit drastic cynic. I think I am prepared to sit it out and not take any losses yet. Some of my stocks are still paying divis, though only keeping pace with inflation, so am generating a smallish income. Although the markets are bleak atm, history has shown that they will recover in time. Am hopeful that I there is enough time left in my own life cycle to see that!

I've been moving some of my SIPP into even more boring dividend plays HICL, SDV,JLIF and am looking at 3IN,SHRS and similar.

i am very glad that i sold all my sipp funds a few weeks ago as i shall be putting the money to much better use in some freehold commercial property

Ah...... a porn shop!?
Sorry, adult entertainment emporium.

frivolity apart ..... the 11500 level on the dow is technically pretty important ..... i feel that if that level is not recovered very soon, we could easily see further very significant falls

of immediate interest, dow cash has now recovered slightly from its lows of this morning - indicating a fall of ONLY 93 points at the open ..... the question is, "what happens next?" .... yesterday's weak rally fizzled out albeit that dow finished 40/50 points off its low

We look likely to end an 8th consecutive day down - but with very little movement (percentage wise) all week - the question is when the break comes, will it be up or down.

Looking at the smaller cap indices as possible leading indicators, I'm not particularly positive atm...