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

Hi Harry, problem is that I cant seem to transport it.

our kid says its because I am trying to move a live link!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any ideas???????.

if so will send you a post.

regards Gf.

cyners, HOC going against you.

Wasted opportunity there M8.

Loads err money.

but other things are not .... shall have a look at the chart and contemplate

yep cheers M8.

Anything high on your list, either way?????????????????????????????????.

Quite extraordinary market conditions.

Been trying to trade the FTSE but it hasn't really moved in the last 1 1/2 hrs (apart from the last few mins!)

DOW currently -104 which takes it down to the 7350 level. Not sure where the support level is.

-135 now!

oh hello old son ..... basking in the early feb sunshine in dubai (biz!) ..... my timing may be wrong, but i still rate SHP as a buy and still happy to be short WPP, and slightly anxious of same in ASC .... neither HOIL nor TLW can be bad buys either ..... WOS also looks to be collapsing again

Nottingham's not bad at this time of year you know ...

Following the trouble at Bank of America & Citibank, FT is now predicting a drop of up to 15% in the DOW & FTSE. Possibly time to take any profit & stick to solid defensive stocks.

"FT is now predicting a drop of up to 15% in the DOW & FTSE."

Took me quite a time to find this FT prediction.

Then I saw that someone from Brewin Dolphin said the FTSE 'could' fall another 15 percent.

But, and I quote, he predicted that any such fall would be swift, and followed by a rise as buyers recognised that shares were priced at fair value.

Come on Harry. Tell us the full story!!

TP

Tricky to give you the full story as much of it is speculative.
Para' says "analysts suggest that investors perceive equities as being over valued", followed by the comment that "buyers would recognise that shares were priced at fair value (given a drop)". I disagree as many people will be looking for undervalued stocks.
I have seen other journalists & some posters on here predicting another sharp fall (DOW down to 5500) which made my original comment seem relevant. Of course it's all a matter of opinion, but sentiment seems to be negative at the moment & circa 15% seems to be the consensus figure to expect.

Harry,

If you were a point and figure chartist you'd see a lot of scarey, and now activated, low targets on the Dow, FTSE and S&P 500. I haven't worked out whether they are 15% precisely, but they could be.

My point was that the Brewin D chappie was saying it would be a quick there and back - and implying that all but the quick on the trigger would not be able to make much mileage out of it.

Yes, many people will be looking for undervalued stocks but if they pick the bottom it will be luck rather than expertise.

TP

Digitallook - "Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group release results that are sure to be pored over by investment analysts and shareholders next week.
RBS is expected to post the biggest loss in UK corporate history following huge write-downs and asset losses."
Will be interesting to see if the FTSE fall continues in to next week on the back of poor bank results. I assume the shorters are readying themselves for action?

Analysts have been totally discredited in these markets. Nearly all have been hopelessly wrong and the rest have vested interests. My cat could get it more 'purrfect' than them.

When RBS was trading at a lowly 300p, I remember someone (possibly from DAN) suggesting to a horrified audience that they could drop to an astonishing 183p.

How times change ...

Long ftse 3775 see how that goes!

I think that might be a good trade,particularly if asia does not follow the us down.

I often find the ftse does not drop as much as you would expect after a big fall in the us.

needs a tight stop loss. seems to be one available.
good luck
regards
jkd

too risky for me though. id rather wait until tomorrow due a bounce but the trend is down.
once again good luck
regards
jkd

long ftse small stake 3783 stop 3759