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

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.

All those seeing support at 12200, I still don't see any support here so if you'd be kind enough to explain your theories and how you came to determine this I'd be very grateful.... I'm hoping to learn something new with this so your patience is very much appreciated. Charting today tells me theres something here and I'm intrigued to learn more... Any charts posted would be very welcome so I can see and better understand reasoning.... Thankyou in advance... John

Amazing just seen 12161.... That really does show you the potential. I only want to bet on the downside though as long term I believe we're still heading down..

12300 out if sequence, 12250 now looking for to sell.

strorysj - looks like you've got your sell off.... Good luck

very interesting .... as have said, am abroad at the mo and also as have said, indices are v dangerous playgrounds if you cannot watch ..... for myself, i am far from convinced that Dow will continue south, but will need to have time to watch before i make up my mind ..... for general info, Dow +30 as i write at 12230ish