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

Dow Futures currently -90 give or take... anyones guess, but yes could see a rally shortly after open...

Wall St spread bet buy @ 12344 at the moment, check again around 12

Now 12355, very difficult to call whats going to happen on the open. think I'll stick today out also. No point gambeling profits made against hunches.

Indeed, dying to have a play with a deal on indices, but having done an imaginary short on Dow last night at 12442, it would have been stopped out at a (small) loss when they rose... would i have had enough foresight to re-open one later when they were hundred points up? not sure! shame though cos that would be very nicely in the money now...

Dow (and FTSE) have now plummeted and extra 80+ points .... only cause i can find is ....... Personal income and spending up slightly more than expected in December. Details soon.

and again almost in free fall now heading downwards towards 12200, will that lend support, or is this the start of a larger sell-off...???

apparently jobless figures were bad

at least that rather justifies the Fed's decision last night, and one would assume they had a pretty good idea of what was coming.

keep feeling that there ought to be money to be made long Dow, but i thought that earlier this morning when it was indicating down only 80 as oppposed to 150 now! ...... managed to sit on my hands!

Always find it amusing, that our market holds hands so tightly with across the pond, and although we are roughly half the points of the Dow, the bad news comes out over there, they fall 165 points (futures)and at the same time we are down 135 points... how the hell do you work that out???!!!

old and true adage .... when Wall Street sneezes, the whole world catches a cold

Have been reading your posts guys - and thanks for illuminating insight into trading the index.

Feel there is money to be made here - but have done a few dummy runs and am about even with some big losses and some big gains - BUT - I am not sure why yet - so will continue to watch and learn from you experts a little while longer until I feel brave enough to risk real money.

Keep posting guys - I do find it very helpful. Thanks

Although have been playing shares for ten years or so, i have racked up many losses, and only recently started to turn things around, however i do consider myself a novice with trading indices and/or certainly shorting things, although have been on the recieving end many times of a long position with a share that has been subject to shorters, TMC last year was notable, held from 435p all the way down to 160p, a good example of the importance of stop losses, actually had luck on myside when purchasing more at bottom and sold out for evens at 265 couple weeks ago... I hope for my sake i can be sensible, strict and successful with CFD's just played around a minute ago and accidentally went long on DOW, (well i thought you would be asked to confirm it...!!!) still, closed two minutes later and only lost one set of dealing cost ($30) oooops, tis only a round of drinks!!!

Ive been one of the biggest optimists throughout this whole bought of negativity but have to admit it is starting to get to me now and Im beginning to faulter. Think I will open a CFD account and start shorting. can't get any worse

for goodness sake be very careful ..... prob best to start with a dummy account anyway, and certainly with current volatility and if you intend to deal with indices, then a guaranteed stop is almost mandatory if you want any peace of mind

Hmmmm barely half hour later and i would have been in a reasonable profit...!!!

For people reading this thread and thinking of trading indices, remember the trend is your friend, don't go against it unless you have a very good reason to. I started using CFDs last November, and over traded a bit, I was too eager to take positions, only small ones so no harm done. I didn't trade for 5 weeks, and just studied the indices, now I only trade ocassionally.

A good analogy is this. Never place a trade unless you have a reason, pretend you are using Mafia Money, and when they are going to ask you Why? did you make the trade. - you better have good answer.

Spitfire - thanks - I like that analogy - only in my case I have to answer to the missus - much worse than the mafia !!

Q
What is the difference between a terrorist and a wife?

A
You can negotiate with a terrorist

to keep you all awake .....

Investors also eyed a surprise jump in weekly jobless claims ahead of Friday's more closely-watched Jan. employment report.

The Dow currently brushing aside somewhat, although can change in an instant, i couldn't resist having a play and went long an hour ago on FTSE, closed already for 42 point gain...

my goodness - we are blue ??