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

with the "fear and greed index" now firmly entrenched in "extreme fear", surely that is at least a reasonable reason to buy - or is that just rose-tinted specs?

Not sure about extreme fear or why it is a reason to buy now, a shake out in the summer is nothing new, so just fence sit until things become clearer is what I'm doing. Everyone to there own.

This is DP's view of things from Inv Chr:
"Both the DAX and the FTSE 100 are now at their most oversold levels on their daily charts in many months. I would stress that this is not a reason in itself to try and buy. Going by the spread betting positioning data I have seen, many do not agree with me here, with longs outnumbering shorts in each index. There may be a case for buying here, but only if you have a decent pain threshold. I would sooner wait until the turn comes and a strong rebound is actually underway. That said, I did take a 130-point profit on my latest FTSE short yesterday, although I am looking for more downside.

I switch my positive view on EURGBP to negative, and continue to seek DAX, FTSE, GBPUSD, gold and EURUSD shorts."

Well I agree with him on fiber and cable anyway.

I'm just a touch concerned that the commodity currencies look to be garnering a bit of support, John, which could lead to general greenback weakening across the board. I would also have expected fiber to have sold harder on the leaked Mediobanca client note and the better-than-expected US data.

Well, both a bit sideways at the moment, should really be sitting on my hands, however the highs are definitely getting lower so the balance is tipped downwards, just small positions though so not that confident!

You're right, everything is still pointing downwards with lower highs and lows, and I certainly wouldn't advocate a long just yet. I've gone flat for now and am going to re-evaluate tomorrow.

I've no spread positions at the moment... The Swiss has my eye though so may not be for long.

Dow and FTSE motoring upwards kneejerk over?

Or another kneejerk?

keep praying if you are short!

Bloomberg, news from china soothes a nervous market.

Hils, I thought you might be up for this. TOWIE for Surrey.

Cougar ouch...

We haven't been approached in Nelson Mandela Towers yet, John. I'm sure my daughter would relish the opportunity though...

DP from IC again today:
"My decision to get out of my FTSE short on Monday was the right one, as equities came back fairly strongly yesterday. However, I see this up-move as a mere temporary blip within a downtrend, a reaction to the deep oversoldness that had built up. Robust economic data from the US continues to strengthen the Fed’s case for withdrawing at least some monetary stimulus. At the same time, the Chinese money markets remain in a nervous and highly erratic state. All this is likely to weigh further upon equities in the near term.

I seek shorts pretty much across the board here.

I am glad I closed out my FTSE short on Monday, but haven’t really changed my stance as a result of yesterday’s 1.4% trough-to-peak bounce. The rally has so far recoiled around the 21-fourhourly EMA. Having unwound its overboughtness on the fourhourly chart, it is likely to resume its descent to the 5946 zone.

DAY: I’d likely sell a drop through 6077.8.

POSITION: I’d likely sell a drop through 6077.8."

Cynic, direct question, why is it you only post what you have actualy done/actioned rather than what you are intending to do/action on the indicies??????.

Surely with all your experience traders would like to bounce ideas off of you and benefit from your knowledge rather than just hear about your positive exploits and not hear of your burried failed exploits.

Is this just a personal ego trip thread for you??.

we liked the positive performance from Ossie but labour have to think hard about a replacement for Mr Bouncy after his pathetic riposte.

even when i wake up in the morning, i rarely know what i am going to do .....
i post what i have done as much as anything else because i got fed up by certain peasants accusing me of lying
with regard to my stinkers, i think you'll find i regularly own up to those too - as indeed one should

I can recall Cynic being whipped by Apple and crowned by the construction index over the past six months so would agree an even set of postings.