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

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

After seeing the rebound today with all the bad news that was out with earnings, i'm inclined to agree... could have sworn we were in for a big sell off, maybe on the next nasty news... only problem is, there are not going to be so many nasty surprises anymore because it is becoming to be expected... here is an article i have just read...


Thu 07/02/2008 19:59

NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street struggled to rebound Thursday as investors, though still nervous about the economy, bought up stocks that have been pummeled by three straight days of losses.

With market having largely priced in the possibility of a recession, many believe there are many valuable stocks at cheap prices. The stock market had tumbled this week, slicing 543 points, or 4.26 percent, off the Dow Jones industrial average.

'The market is coming to the conclusion that it overreacted over the past few days,' said Brian Gendreau, investment strategist for ING Investment Management, noting that it's unsurprising that bargain hunters would enter the market after three straight days of sharp losses.

Trading was fickle, though, given Thursday's gloomy data -- which included declines in retailers' sales figures, a drop in sales of pending homes and a disappointing outlook from Internet networking supplier Cisco Systems Inc.

'We're kind of trying to create a silk purse out of a sow's ear here,' said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors. 'The earnings are lousy, the economic numbers are lousy.'

Ends at 12272, well thats only a small loss, sell off coming so would rather a rebound at close than with hours to go. See what tomorrow brings, 12200 down side test several times today so expecting lower....

Possibly a little bit of a respite next week, as I can see no release of any critical data from the U.S., except for final results from Coca-Cola & IBM on thurs.
Sorry to see you shorters taking a bit of a hammering, but for us equity holders next week may see some blue for a change.

DOW bounced off one of my support lines today, right on the button. Haven't been trading it but I rather expect more upside than down in the near future. Having said that the DOW is difficult to predict and often best to trade what you see rather than what you think.

Morning all

ftse seems stuck at about 5791 + 67, it's a hard call today from here. Would say ftse will mostly be in positive area today, wanting to regain yesterdays loss, DOW was slightly up last night supported by bargain hunters. Might see the same here this morning.

Too hard to call - so sidelined for now.

Closed my position on Wall St. before markets opened... Got caught on the upswing last night however broke even closing before markets opened....

Slow tonight...

My start to CFD trading has been predictably negative, so switched to writing down decisions in a book since last night, only placing small risks per point but have had 6 successful trades to one where i was stopped out, currently 446 up and with a long running on dow at 12120, prob close out in a second as around 50 points up as i type... and all on paper... sheeesh...!!!

I should point out, i'm not generally long of the market, quite the opposite, however, i dont see 12100 being broken downwards without some bad news or report, therefore while negative sentiment is pushing the market down, i still feel it will try to head back to where it started the day...

Can't win them all BigTed and looks like you've been very unlucky. Won't post my wins to losses over past week but am happy.. Interestingly you now talk about 12100, does this mean support at 12200 has been broken? If so was 12200 a support line or just somewhere the sp stalled..??

I was going on what i read, although the bounce back after going through 12200 apparently redefines the triangle, not sure which one, Bermuda, possibly?! Am told to watch 12100 down short term and 12400 up... Obviously i'm finding it hard to sit on my hands, (for one they are quite big) but it is like a kid with a new toy...!!!

I know the feeling but patience and picking your moment is the most profitable way.... I've spent hows waiting for my price only to find the stock markets closed and I've missed it in the morning.... I've wasted entire days waiting with nothing to show but red eyes, back ache and being bloody miserable... Your time will come as long as your patient... Careful what you read also, everyone seams to have an opion but very few can back up their written jumble with evidence of sucess...