08:05am  ~  No market update yesterday as I was still away in Norfolk on a long-weekend break but I got back home very late last night so will be watching my charts this morning and also doing a few Skype calls with new traders.

Over in the U.S. yesterday, their production figures showed a bigger than expected rise which helped a large upward movement in the equity market – the Dow Jones 30 recovered 131 points to 15,881 after last week’s steep sell-off.  Both the DJ30 and the S&P500 bounced off an important moving average yesterday on their respective daily charts, so we may see more upward movement as we get nearer to the Christmas break.  The Federal Reserve start their 2-day meeting today so there’s going to be some news regarding tapering tomorrow evening, and apart from the rumours that have circulated in the past months about why they should go one way or the other, we also have to keep in mind that the U.S. government never likes the markets to end on a low due to the effect on pension values on voters – so this may help delay the tapering announcement until the new year, when equity markets traditionally rise anyway.

A weaker dollar together with a rebound in equities pushed energy prices higher with WTI Crude rising to $97.20 although the outlook remains subdued as there is a prediction that they will have higher output within two years due to shale formations – as usual higher output equals lower prices. Gold traders were subdued yesterday due mainly to the rise in equities and are probably waiting for the Fed’s meeting announcement at 7pm GMT tomorrow to see where sentiment lies in the run up to year end.

8:25am  ~  A few minutes after I turned on my charts, I spotted a short opportunity on my Gold chart (a UTB set-up) and I’ve now been in the trade for 10 minutes. The price triggered a few minutes after 8am but I managed to get in at 8:15am at a good price – the stop loss is just 28 pips.  I will report back later with an update.

10:55am  ~  I have just closed off my Gold trade as a friend has called round for a cycle ride.  I came out with a profit of +64 pips.

14:10pm  ~  I am back here in the study after an invigorating cycle ride and a spot of lunch – I have an hour of emailing to do so I shall watch some charts as well.

14:35pm  ~  I am now in another trade on my Gold chart, this time I’m ‘long’ with a UTB set-up again.

14:40pm  ~  Well that was quick – the market has reacted very explosively over the last 10 minutes, more so than would normally be the case after a CPI announcement so I’ve grabbed a few pips and come straight out of the Gold position, it’s not the kind of trading I enjoy. The S&P500 and Dow 30 are also moving quite fast, so I’m happy with the 52 pips I have ended up with.  Off to Norwich to do some Christmas shopping now.

Daily Target Reached ?  YES (+116 pips)   I have traded the morning session plus a short while after lunch