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

will wait another hour before taking any positions, (using rule 1) markets seem to want to move north, maybe things could change from Tuesday onwards.

Watching bloomberg this morning, it seemed most commentators are becoming more bullish on us economy.

are they nuts or just wearing rose-tinted specs?

the charts on page 1 are interesting and may guide your actions .... depends how you want to intrepret what you see there!

DOW futures currently -17, which is not drastic, but may indicate a bit of a friday afternoon sell off here.

DOW - futures and cash indications are different ...... cash indications are -43 at 13585

Thanks for the clarification. I tend to just treat them as indicators of market sentiment rather than focus on the exact figures.
Both are in negative territory though.

Also, 8.30 ET will be the figures for the U.S. labour market which, depending on the stats, will boost or tip the DOW. Predicted to be flat until then.

looked at charts and can see what you mean with 200 dma above 6400, just checked ftse up 60 and as mentioned dow futures down 39 a few minutes ago.

can't see a strong enough trend yet. So sidelined at moment.

the Dow (US) will strongly influence the direction of FTSE, and with that in mind, it's worth taking a good look at S&P and Nasdaq charts as well as Dow

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect employers added 70,000 jobs last month, down from 166,000 in October.

While the consensus is for a weak report, expectations for a stronger reading have increased since a report on Wednesday showed a bigger surge in private-sector hiring than originally estimated.

If the government reading comes in fairly strong, it could further ease concerns about a recession in the U.S. and give stocks another boost. Stocks have rallied for the past two sessions on positive economic readings and bets that the Federal Reserve will cut rates next Tuesday

it stopped out afet 35 points, must read rule 1, other one will come good by march for sure has very long stop.

it stopped out afet 35 points, must read rule 1, other one will come good by march for sure has very long stop.

hello computer? Probability got the better of me and its 1 all.

With the data looking better than expected and OECD recommending no further cuts in fed rate, it could be that they don't cut, should be a bumpy ride down from there, for dow. Question is will there be a sell off prior to tues evening?

Ahead of the opening bell, the Labor Department reported the addition of 94,000 nonfarm payroll jobs last month, and said the unemployment rate held steady at 4.7%. Economists expected the rate to climb to 4.8%.

The data "points to an economy that is not slipping into a recession anytime soon, but we're likely to see some sort of a pullback here because most of the news is already digested, and a rate cut is already priced in," said Cardillo.

In early action on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude-oil futures fell $1.4 to $88.83, while gold futures fell $5.4 to $801.8.

Sorry that todays short didn't work, I'm waiting to go short, hoping for a good entry point next week. But I will be carefull just in case we see a Chrismas rally, if we do I should imagine it would be a half hearted one.

Thought when ftse reached 6570 that it would be a good time to short, but it would have been against trend. Rule 1.

it's Dow or similar that is they key, depending on how Fed's decision, whatever it may be, is perceived by the markets

Slightly off topic here but just a note for you avid golfers. Forget the bbc for weather forecasts they are as trivial as doing financial reseach via the Sun. Try out xcweather.co.uk, magicseweed.com or perhaps best of all windguru.cz, knowing crosswind speeds, levels of precipitation may give you an edge. Sunday is forecast to be perhaps the wildest storm of the year. 8 metre swell and 50mph wind, not ideal for golf!

8 metre swell? ..... where? ..... in the casual water in the bunkers?

You might need to be out of the bunkers to get to grips with the 8 metre swell cynic, though I'm sure there's a few low lying courses that may end up with more bass than golfers in them on Sunday! http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=119

Back to topic, my short would have worked out if i had kept a longer stop of 50 points. I didn't have the balls for it today though, which suggests I should have set an order to open. Hindsight ain't it great.

If it is going to be that windy might go for quick trip to coast, great to watch the breakers roll in, might help me work out my strategy for coming week.

Take your canoe & you can try trading from a Central American internet caffor a while. Double whammy! Life insurance payments & spreadbetting profits! :o)

the major unpredictable is market sentiment ..... whatever the Fed does, be in 1/4 or 1/2 % cut, the market could react either way (i assume you can work out why) .... my gut feeling remains that the market will tank, and there is a pretty strong opinion abroad that it will then keep going south.

i now have a smallish Dow short running, but i have placed a stop about 100 pts away lest i have called wrong ...... i have also taken at least some other money off the table

i certainly do not see the Dow getting beyond about 14250, or arguably 200 above that .... if it does indeed reach those heights, then a short becomes an odds-on bet