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

Short or long

And there in lies the rub!

I appear to have one of the only red stocks today - TSCO.

we all like a rub and it changes ones mood.

Depends on who's giving the rub.....

leading to petit mort ..... i shan't back the indices in either direction but am contemplating perhaps banking a small bit of profit; very undecided at the mo

some very heavy bear squeezing in progress, which doesn't mean one should dive in with buying boots

All waiting for B. Ob. to address the nation this evening? I wonder if it will make any difference to the markets in the morning.

For sure Harry i am buying

Hmmmm..... DOW seemed to stay steady and then ..............! Friday sell-off?

EUR/GBP nice fall yesterday, lets hope the momentum holds given resistance at .8650.

PPI Y on Y 6.1%, expected 5.9%

The ECB statement and ECB President Trichet's press conference disappointed the markets by not embarking on any new easing facilities. They will remain committed to offering unlimited three-month loans to banks but did not go as far as increasing the maturity of any loans to six months or one year - something the markets had perhaps anticipated. The ECB no longer sees upside risks to inflation, instead seeing inflation risks balance.

Everytime that twit Obanana speaks he causes indicies to fall, please keep him locked up in his white house and don't let him speak. He has no credibility and talks like a pussy.

thumbs DOW(N) to Obama

Should have never voted him president a total waste of space. At least GWB has some bottle.

Stocks Tumble Worldwide After Obama Speech

Stocks fell worldwide for a second day and the yield on Germanys two-year note declined to a record after President Barack Obama detailed his $447 billion plan to boost hiring in the U.S. Photographer: Paul Taggart/Bloomberg
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U.S. President Barack Obama makes a speech to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Photographer: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg


Stocks fell for a second day and German two-year yields declined to a record amid escalating concern about Greeces debt crisis and speculation Congress wont pass President Barack Obamas $447 billion plan to boost the economy. European bank credit risk surged to an all-time high.

The MSCI All-Country World Index retreated 1.7 percent at 9:30 a.m. in New York and the Standard & Poors 500 Index slipped 1 percent. The yield on the German two-year note yield slid to less than 0.4 percent for the first time. The dollar strengthened against all of its 16 major peers tracked by Bloomberg. Oil fell 2.6 percent.

I think the acceleration in falls is down to this - Stark to leave over ECB bond buying

rather like Cameron, Obama inherited something of a poisoned chalice ..... unlike Cameron, Obama has to defeat a vituperative Republican house before he can enact anything ....... what chance would Obama have had in implementing the seriously tough programme of much needed cuts etc that Cameron has (quite correctly) put through?

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anyway, for me, a really good week on the markets, with decent gains even today, though much of that laid at TLW's door

cameron unfortunately inherited a bucket of shite from labour - as the out going labour team said to the chancellor: 'good luck - the cupboard is bare'! that about sums labour up and now another idiot labour mp is fighting for the rights of the so called tavellers in essex - those up standing citizens who pay jack into the system, scrounge on benefits, cause mayhem even though they own homes back home in ireland - no wonder ireland were glad to see the back of them - thanks to labour england has become a dumping ground - england is a small country and does not have the infrastructure or cash to cater for me people especially scroungers from other countries! i also realise some genuine useful people arrive but i would say they are the minority!! rant over