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

I have sat on my hands this afternoon and watched and learnt from the masters. If I had followed my instincts - I think I would have made a few bob - but staying cautious for now.

bhunt - You'll have to share the masters tips with us also...

Lol, I tried to short FTSE twice and although could have banked a profit earlier, ended up unsucsessful, lesson learnt, dont go against the grain... I actually posted earlier that money appears to be coming back to the market and even a potentially nasty piece of news from the states has been brushed aside, perhaps we are safe again for a week or so, or 200/300 points before the next down leg... who knows???

Big Ted - I think you hit the nail on the head when you said 'don't go against the grain', its abit slow at the moment for my liking but there is still a range that can be traded as long as you don't mind sitting at the screen trading it. I'm sat here just waiting for what I consider the right time to get in, have charts also running to I can see history, helps get a feel on the range..

I must say this thread seams to have a nice bunch posting on it, many others I just flick through as I've seen the ramping and abuse. This really concludes only one thing, be very careful who you listen to or maybe take advice from.

Good weekend all - I shall be decorating for my sins

And you bhunt, I have new skirtings to fit also....

In on wall st 12660 buy

Sold 12691, small profit but then and again range is only small today.

Not willing to take the gamble as I believe long term the DOW will go up as already stated in earlier posts so looking to only buy at the lower points of the range. To me this limits the risk of being caught out betting against where the support line will be.

for Dow to break the downtrend, it needs to break through 12800 with impetus and to hold it ..... you're a brave chap if you think that will happen in the immediate future, though with the current contrariness in the market, you may see Dow teasing through, only to fall flat and sharply

Brave..... Not sure about that, the old nerve is starting to go as it looks closer to test... Theres just no momentum at the moment, easy time to get burnt, yes I know but hey I'd rather be in it than saying 'if I have, I could have made'...

The buys now 12734, too high even for my comfort levels, thats me done, nice profit as well this week.... Maybe take advantage of the BRR sp which looks low, means averaging up though but have the weekend to think about it.

confess to being amazed that wall street finished so strongly ... fully expected a big sell off in last 30 or whatever ..... certainly an ace day for me today, and from memory, for too much has happened in the interim, i think a good week overall too

as mentioned above, was very surprised indeed to see strength in US last night but find it hard to trust or believe that it can hold ..... Dow is now very close (12757) to the chart-critical level of 12800 and would be amazed if it blazed straight through that

Charting is a area I have lacked knowledge, so I haved started to study it, starting with moving averages. A Dead Cross is a very significant event, this happens when the 50ma moves down through 200ma and the 200ma also move downwards. Look at the FTSE 100 chart below, this happened appx 7th January, the last time it occurred was the end of 2000 and lasted to 2003.

The price now is moving up, and the resistance should be at the 50ma which is at 6150, this will be a crucial week to decide where the FTSE is trending. I would be interested to hear from people with charting knowledge, if I have read these charts correctly.

Its my belief that charting can give an excellant foresight to market direction if fully understood, that is all, carry on...

well done you guys - I like it when people make profits. I like it even better when I make profits - but for now content to watch a bit and learn a bit.

When the market direction is not obvious, the problem becomes where to set your stop, how much leeway do you give yourself? I was short of the Dow earlier, but left it until i thought the trend was down, ie it was already negative and having placed quite a tight stop, it duly got triggered as half hour later the market rose, it appears to have levelled out right on the level of my stop (typical!). So timing is utmost and perhaps being a bit more liberal with one's stop???!!!

good morning Ted .... i removed the stops from my Dow short, for though i remain confident that it will finish down on the day, it is not impossible that there will be some sort of flourish early on ..... i still maintain that economic realisation will register and that markets will retrench .... quite how far back is anyone's guess

Yes Rich, right with you, just trying to measure if the rally still has any steam left, told myself to be strict with stops whilst i play around and get used to trying to call the markets direction, but as i just stated above, after a short move up (and triggering my stop) the market stopped at that level and is now retreating... its almost as if they knew my limit and did it on purpose..!!!