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

6681 gone long again

Anyone would think it was a YES vote !

Tesco and the miners have taken a hit Jimmy...

In a bit higher than you shortie but down and stayed in . Hoping the market turns this week.
I'm seriously thinking of starting an indices trading platform ,called , follow jimmy b do the opposite and make millions .

Just my opinion. Anyone else agree or disagree that the Major Indices have peaked and more likely to slide down the other side?

I'm staying long for now, if 6620 support fails then of course I'll review.. I currently average 6732.8 across two bets.

the markets have suddenly got very excited
any reason known other than it's the start of rosh hashanah?

From Bloomberg:
"U.S. stocks rose, after a three-day slump for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as new-home sales climbed to a six-year high and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. led a rally among producers of consumer staples.

“We’ve barely seen many corrections that extended more than two days at a time,” Jasper Lawler, a London-based market analyst at CMC Markets Plc, said by telephone. “We saw a couple days of declines and people are going into the default of buying into that dip on U.S. markets. I could see us pushing into new highs. The Fed has said they’re going to be easy for a considerable period of time, so that’s still generally supportive of stocks.”

thanks harry

Strange how we usually mirror the moves on the DOW yet FTSE seems to have struggled to get over the England / Scotland nervous period. The threat of another protracted war doesn't seem to have deterred US investors ......yet.

few body bags expected

Out FTSE this morning with 35 points.

Could this be the early stages of a significant drop in the indices many have predicted/waited for? Whilst the UK is not overly expensive, Wall Street almost certainly is, and any fall there won't help the FTSE.
2517

hard to know, but lots of strange shenanigans on dow for no obvious reason

Prospective Russian laws to take over foreign property.

Reports Russian parliament drafting law to allow government to seize foreign assets in Russia in response to foreign sanctions.

ah; that would explain lots

No its a broker note out................

Im hoping they are wrong.

US STOCKS Cantor turns bearish on U.S. equities

25 Sep 2014 - 15:27

Indexes off: Dow 0.8 pct, S&P 0.9 pct, Nasdaq 1.3 pct
By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK, Sept 25 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks were sharply lower on Thursday, with the S&P 500 falling back under its 14-day moving average, and Cantor Fitzgerald expects that weakness to continue, saying it has turned bearish on U.S. stocks.

The firm noted a number of "divergences" that it said pointed to market losses ahead, including a decline in market breadth and recent underperformance in small-caps; the Russell 2000 is down 8.1 percent from a recent record, while the S&P is down less than 2 percent.

"Divergences are like stress fractures ... at some point the divergence reverts," the firm wrote to clients. "As we see it," Cantor's analysis "has resulted in the conclusion that U.S. indices are due for at least a 5 to 7 percent correction to start, but we believe that is likely followed by a more significant series of corrections into 2015." Cantor also noted low levels in the CBOE Volatility index . At 15, the "fear index" is up significantly from a recent low of 10.28, though it remains well below its long-term average of 20.

"Volatility in its various forms can stay low for prolonged periods for good reason. Those reasons are simply no longer compelling," the firm wrote.

Index snapshot at 10:19 EDT:

S&P 500 was falling 18.72 points, or 0.94 percent.
Nasdaq Comp was losing 59.10 points, or 1.3 percent.
Dow industrials was dropping 133.48 points, or 0.78 percent.
Russell 2000 was falling 14.1 points, or 1.25 percent.
S&P MidCap was dropping 14.7 points, or 1.05 percent.
S&P SmallCap was losing 7.83 points, or 1.21 percent.
(Editing by Nick Zieminski) ((ryan.vlastelica@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +1 646-223-6014; Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica@thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net @RV_Reuters)

One to watch.

NEW YORK, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The dollar hit a four-year high as the yield difference between U.S. Treasuries and German Bunds widened to the highest in nearly 15 years on Thursday, while global equity markets fell sharply as the stronger dollar pointed to potential earnings losses. Weak European economic data on Wednesday also helped push the euro lower, while the strong dollar knocked down oil, gold and other commodity prices on Thursday. The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, rose to a four-year high of 85.485 before paring some gains, up 0.21 percent at 85.217. The euro fell as low as $1.26955 EUR= on trading platform EBS, its lowest since November 2012, as the yield gap is a key driver of exchange rates. Selling in the euro, which was last off 0.31 percent against the dollar at $1.2740, quickened after the shared currency sank below the $1.2750 level, according to Boris Schlossberg, managing director at BK Asset Management in New York. "The sentiment toward the unit remains extremely negative as markets are beginning to appreciate the divergence between U.S. and European monetary policies," he told clients in a note. The spread between benchmark U.S. and German 10-year debt was 156 basis points, within touching distance of recent 15-year highs of 158 basis points. Ten-year German Bund yields DE10YT=TWEB fell to 0.973 percent, while 10-year U.S. Treasury yields US10YT=RR slipped to 2.5203 as the price rose 13/32. A strong dollar can hurt earnings from abroad for U.S. multinationals, as well as industrials and companies in basic materials, said Keith Bliss, senior vice-president at Cuttone & Co in New York. "A stronger dollar, if it moves too rapidly, is typically a pattern that is bad for U.S. equities," Bliss said. "The commodity guys are going to be a little weaker in this market; it is clearly going to have an impact on their core product, on what they sell, since they are all denominated in dollars." Stocks on Wall Street fell more than 1 percent, and pushed MSCI's all-country index .MIWD00000PUS down 1.07 percent to 419.18. The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares retreated, falling 1.06 percent at 1,371.05. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 195.48 points, or 1.14 percent, at 17,014.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was down 23.65 points, or 1.18 percent, at 1,974.65. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was down 74.21 points, or 1.63 percent, at 4,481.01. Brent crude fell further under $97 a barrel as abundant supply and the strong dollar largely outweighed worries about Mideast conflict. Brent LCOc1 fell 46 cents to $96.49 a barrel before recovering to trade at $96.85. U.S. crude CLc1 was up 32 cents at $93.10 a barrel. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 retreated 0.67 percent to $6,697 a tonne, and the 19-commodity Thomson Reuters/Core Commodity CRB Index .TRJCRB fell 0.9 percent.