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

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fortunately (i think) i reacted very quickly and sold (ouch, ouch, ouch) but dithered a bit and could not get a short position placed before suspension ..... there is going to be a HUGE row and death by a 1000 cuts for whoever released the figures early

i was quite chirpy a few minutes beforehand, as i noticed 3 brokers had just upgraded their view on the company .... just shows what they know too!

ah well, live to fight another day, but it really is very tiresome ..... serves me right for being aggressive with the wroin stock

Cynic,
Have you closed your short?

Lucky for you Cynic, that GOOG announced their figures early, while you were around to react! Just think: you might have turned blissfully to relaxing on the sofa with one of your Good Wines, oblivious of the carnage to your bank balance had they published after the bell.

cynic , 8 points on sp500 for 1 hour... or anywhere..worth anything.. even at yours 100pp.. why didnt you get that yet.... :))

funnily - well not really - enough, if i hadn't been around i would not have sold so low ..... and thank goodness i never placed that short either! .... anyway, i'm actually very glad i closed when i did, even if i took a thumping

Ahem!.... being a novice when it comes to s/b & cfd's, I rely entirely on learned gurus who have written volumes on the discipline of frequent trading, but what happened to your stops?

he never did know when to stop harry.,. hope you didn't get too burnt cyners, a 100$ drop is a bit frightening.,.

a rare instance of premature filing

SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:01am BST

(Reuters) - Google Inc's quarterly results fell well short of Wall Street's expectations after its core advertising business slowed, stunning investors accustomed to consistently rapid growth from the Internet giant and wiping more than 9 percent off its market value.

The disappointing numbers on Thursday came hours ahead of schedule in a rare instance of premature filing. Google blamed the misfire on an unauthorized filing by its financial printers, RR Donnelley & Sons Co, and later confirmed the numbers' accuracy.

Microsoft profit slips as PCs fizzle; Windows 8 awaited

SEATTLE | Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:00am BST

(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's quarterly profit fell a greater-than-expected 22 percent, as sales of computers running its Windows operating system dipped and some revenue was deferred ahead of upcoming releases of its core Windows and Office products.

The sharp decline surprised investors, who had underestimated the effect of weak personal computer sales, sending Microsoft's shares down 1.3 percent in after-hours trading.

i almost never use stops and in the case of GOOG, they would have been useless unless guaranteed as the drop was instantaneous ...... anyway, such is life, and of course it is one of the perils of playing the markets

damage was unpleasant, and though o'weight here, i assuredly do not have all my eggs in one basket ..... it's just so dull having to put humpty together again!

cynic - who do you trade google with please?

IG .... i use their L2 platform, not least because us stocks such as GOOG zip about a bit at the best of times, so you can choose when to press the button

Ok thanks.

GBP Public Sector Net Borrowing 10.7B consensus 11.9B previous 12.4B

Nice to see Google paid off!

Probably lose the gains shorting Apple though next week...

should imagine you made enough for a 3-week holiday at Sandy Lane!

I wish Cynic, only had a very small amount on it as I wasn't able to watch. FTSE250 12079 I'm going short today...

Shortie,
HOw is your position on FTSE250. Are u out?