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

a pull back (dow) has to happen sooner rather than later, but provided it's not caused by something too scary - gengis netanyahu! - then should merely be a correction

an argument perhaps to lighten any dow long (comme moi) with a view to piling into ftse as/when 6000 (a psychological block) is breached with impetus

Cynic,
There will not be any war with Iran. The damage to Iran's economy over last month has been much worst that of the 9 years war with Iraq. Another revolution may come next.

What do they to achieve by war? Any war will be costly and makes Iranians united against external forces, strengthening Iranian government. IMO

So far the FTSE has tended to move up with the DOW, but I thought the below snippet was interesting:

From Reuters:
'Italy equity funds recorded their biggest weekly inflow since the current financial crisis began. In contrast, investors pulled more than $200 million out of UK equity funds, according to EPFR Global, which tracks conventional and alternative funds....

"The strong liquidity should boost stocks in the short term, it's a question of flow. But in the longer term, it's quite alarming to see these actions from central banks because it means that the slowdown in global economic growth is serious," Barclays France director Franklin Pichard said.'

"But in the longer term, it's quite alarming to see these actions from central banks because it means that the slowdown in global economic growth is serious,"

How sharp is he! :-)

So why are we heading for a multi-year high on the indices? Can't fathom it. Ah well, just go with the flow...

Toya,
Next leg will start this week. Base is around the corner, IMO

Hi Ahoj,
Thanks for that. My FTSE short from 5900 is ok currently, as is the DOW short from 13585. But I view these as a bit of a short-term pullback, and then I shall be looking for a (hopefully good!) point from which to go long again.

Closed my shorts... and set them up again as Working Orders. Want a relaxing evening and not worry about whether I might lose the running profits I'd made!

your a very shrewd lady despite what cynic says.......... ;)

Has he been rude about me again Balerboy? One has to humour the old bear :)

no - was on a flight, but i see you've now sewn up the crotch in your knickers!

You ol' romantic you Cynic!
By the way, Happy new Year!

Don't know about bear, more a grumpy baboon..... you know the ones with the colourful rear ends.,.

More of a mandrill :-)

Thanks guys! :-)

Meanwhile, I'm glad I went short on FTSE and DOW yesterday

well done T ...... have not gone short, but have banked profits in FOGL and RBS

dow looks to have been strong after hours, but not sure why ...... cash dow currently +57 at 13624, so let's see what happens next

Bank of Japan increases asset purchase programme

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has extended its asset purchasing programme by 10 trillion yen ($126bn; £78bn), following similar moves by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.

The move, aimed at boosting the economy, increases the overall size of the stimulus programme to 80tn yen.

Though the increase had been widely anticipated, some analysts were surprised by the size of it.

i've heard the girls say the same of you skinny!

On a good day cynic, on a good day!