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

don't know about a massive sell-off being imminent, but confess i think the odds of Dow having another upward day must be getting quite long ..... i am inclined to place a modest short, though will assuredly close it regardless before i leave the office as am taking Beloved out to dinner

Good to see your still treating the lady properly, even after all these years, Rich... lol

well she lets me play golf pretty much when i choose!

My other half had Golf lessons and now accompanies when I play, thinking about it I missed a trick today. I should have taken her out for a romantic game today, instead of a meal out tonight.

Figures due from Comcast, Marriott Hotels, Goodyear & Daimler + a number of smaller companies this afternoon in the U.S. Their news may affect the DOW this p.m. as not much other info due today.

Is buying the Mrs. shares in SSL considered by posters a romantic act?

FTSE keeps banging against 5900 - then retreating - so far

Dow is struggling seriously to hold above 12500, and have shorted same.
Am also short of SOLA, and though did that too early at 276, am tempted to short further for all sorts of good chart reasons
Contemplated shorting here (AL.) but may have missed the boat.

would happlily consider other suggestions

Whats your chart reasons on SOLA....?? Still shorting the DOW as have been all week, nice to see some blue finally, intend to keep shorting against a long play.

have a look at the SOLA thread ..... Peter Holden's charts and input should tell you plenty ..... however, in a nutshell, sp challenged the important 340 level and failed dismally

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has warned that the outlook for the US economy is deteriorating.
He said the housing and credit market turmoil had hit the economy and added that a weak labour market could further undermine consumer spending.
Given the risks facing the economy, Mr Bernanke signalled that additional US interest rate cuts were likely.
The central bank began lowering the cost of borrowing in September and cut rates dramatically in January.
'Timely action'
Mr Bernanke did not mention the risk of a recession and said he expected the economy to pick up later this year.

Will have a look at the thread tonight Cynic if I get time......

Got badly burned today - shorted the FTSE - but set my stoploss too tight and got stopped out just 1 point before it dropped from + 40 down to-20 - damn

sorry to hear that bh, it's so annoying when that happens, I know how it feals. For a short term trade now I use a wider stop about 40 points and reduce the points, it would only be stooped out if I totally misread the market.

Good Luck

With volitility at the moment stop loss is 12800 on Wall St. At that price I pretty much break even... The markets are moving very quickly at the moment so tight stop losses can end up costing you in the long run.... I have now adopted a longer term strategy of using a smaller bet and a rolling spread bet. This way I figure I don't have to watch the markets sat here, obvious danger is not being able to close out should glourious news come about, but break even anyway.. Other bonus is you don't a point but not as profitable as hourly up/down day trading which carries a higher risk.

nice to know i called it right while i was out to dinner, though with quite long stops on both Dow and FTSE shorts ..... SOLA short may even get back on the right side tomorrow

WHEN ARE THE IDIOTS GOING TO REALISE WHAT IS GOING ON? UP 178 yesterday down 175 today make it on the way up and make it on the way down what a casino!!

that's what the stock markets are! .... but at least volatility can make it easier to make money ... or lose it too

lesson learnt

jumped in too early at 5884 short after trade going against me by 25 points, just managed to close out for 4 point gain. should have waited for rsi signals to short.

had 44 point stop/loss, which shows how important it is to widen the stops in these markets.

i don't think you did ..... market had a surprisingly strong opening, but clearly cannot now hold it .... similarly, Dow indications were initially surprisingly strong, but also now slipping

Thanks for advice.

Tried a smaller bet with a wider stop loss this morning and went long on FTSE.

So far so good. Had I adopted yesterdays strategy - I would have been stopped out already.