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

So at what figure would you say 12200 support is broken? obviously it could tease below by 20/30 points but come back above, but what about 12150? surely that is the point where there is no return and then we could test new lows???

Big Ted, your looking at very short term with those numbers, I look for a longer term figure, 12781 I thought the DOW would head towards before falling, it came close Friday or Monday, now I'm expecting a fall to 10500 max, its sure to stall on the way and tomorrow could be one of these days. I'll most likely leave tomorrow and see what happens and then short again Friday. I'm not really sure there is any support is at 12200, We've pretty well cruised 300 points with little downside resistence, expecting 12000 to be a different matter. Phycological (thats not spelt right, it's late.) barrier 12000 I believe will be the next support line.... Having said this any consistancy between 12100 and 12300 would cause me to rethink.... All this of course in my humble opion..

More or less on support right now at 12100, next trendline support is at 11700, breaks down through there, you can make up a number ;)

Missed a rollercoaster by the looks of things. Reversing my gold short was bloody lucky timing today, for those not in it, get in soon. It's following a great trend line, good support at 888, stop set at around 862 could hit 940-50 in next week or two. Unless there is another blood bath and traders have to cover positions, I'd be surprised (and pi$%ed off to see it drop to below 855 again).

The way my supposedly good stocks keep disappointing am seriously considering sticking to indices, commodities and currency trading. Fundamentals and TA seem easier to follow.

The 60 Minute Chart shows the Dow has had two bearish days in a row after breaking through the bottom of the tightly-coiled triangle yesterday morning. The index is now holding at 12,200 where it could get another bounce back toward the 12,500 level, or fail and drop back toward the 11,700 lows. As we mentioned before, a bounce at around the 12,200 level will likely spark a redefinition of the triangle moving forward. However, a clean break through 12,200 may pave the way back toward another test of the lows at 11,700.

Everything i'm reading points to 12200 being important support level, we appear to be testing it this morning and not bouncing far off it each time... I cant really see any rally (certainly of any substance) in the next few days, sentiment seems to be very negative, and the rate cuts in U.S. are yesterdays news. As posted above 12150 seems to be the green light, so will wait and see. I have no position at present, just my long portfolio of which i have trimmed recently. So well done to those who have had a short running last few days, everything is screaming at me to open one now, but i do have a lot to learn and will see if my thoughts are proved correct this afternoon...

Your not alone seeing 12200 as a support point, as already stated I don't share this sentiment, will wait until after European Markets have closed tonight before making my plays. I suppose the long shot of all this is don't trade if you don't feel relatively secure of your bet.... Wheres Cynic gone? Always keen to hear his views upon support and resistence.. Good luck to all with open positions..

Completely at a loss to understand the Dow, Walmart giving a poor update, Cisco likewise, Job claims showing a strain and it turns positive... I think that shows just the strength of the support at 12200...

All looking negative now, it looks like we are in a downward bear chanel now, with bear rallies. Confirmation might be indicated if the next low is lower then previous one, which I believe was 5555 on the 22nd January. I'm following some blue chip companies with a view of building a long term portfolio slowly over the next 12/18 months. With expert timing brought some BT 2 days back, 10% cheaper now ! Will add some more lower down 205p if they fall further.

Shorting at 12265... very volitile todays been...

Just touched 12300, will I be punished????

This is getting scary. 4 figure loss and still mounting. Can't work out the logic of why its going up. Just hoping the end of day sell off happens before im cleaned out

12330, looking scary now, holding in there though, fingers crossed its not an upset.... RSI climbing also..

The American 'buy one get one free' offer seams to be in place, small print always states though 'whilst stocks last'.... Famous last words.... maybe..!!

my cheeks were clenched earlier, was heading for 4 figure loss myself, but closed out at a (small) loss in the end, I will concede my timing was very bad and have watched in amazement at the recovery since, even did a dummy long later which would have been profitable...

12225 Thats me out, very strong upwards momentum, builds quickly but didn't last, anyway one thing I know about this game is not get greedy... Will short again if it goes back over 12300...

Fallen to 12200 now.... Sods law, however could have easily gone the other way.

Charts option on TDW doesn't appear to work and cant find somewhere that streams constant prices to a 5 minute chart...

Amazing range, has lost 100 points (Wall St.) in under 30 mins.... Tonight not for the faint hearted, I'm going to see if I can play this range for 40 points a time..

Big Ted try selftrade.com home page scroll down hit DOW and then charts, top left of the chart is intraday, 15-20 mins behind but can still plot a range with the data..... Today is exactly the reason I've waited untill now to get involved, volitility expected and thats what we've got.