07:40am No trading for me today, I am in and out of the house taking cars to be serviced and helping a neighbour with some building work.
Market Update:
The market movement today will be dominated by this evening’s interest rate announcement by Janet Yellen and the Federal Reserve after a two day meeting that started yesterday morning although equities are expected to be fairly bullish this morning after yesterday’s losses. Earning releases in the U.S. yesterday continued to disappoint with Apple, Twitter and IBM shares falling and Durable Goods numbers coming in lower than the market expected.
As it is Wednesday it’s also U.S. Crude Oil Inventories and ahead of this afternoon’s announcement on the stock situation there has been a report that there’s been a fall this week which has prompted a small rise in the price to $43:27 currently after ending down $1:12 yesterday at $42:87. Gold had a reasonably good day on Tuesday as the chances of a U.S. rate rise fades into the future, it rose $3:40 during yesterday’s session to finish at $1166:40 and overnight there was more buying by Asian traders and the price is currently sitting at $1170:30.
07:25am Early start for me after a 4-day break away, not sure how much trading I shall manage today though as I have meetings with builders through the day.
Market Update:
Equity markets are treading water at the moment ahead of tomorrow’s Federal Reserve interest rate announcement and Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting both the Dow Jones 30 and wider S&P500 indices ended Monday’s session very slightly down and overnight Asian markets finished mixed with only the Shanghai Composite in the black. It is fairly widely accepted that Janet Yellen is going to keep the minimum U.S. interest rate at the record low of 0.25% so traders are really just positioning themselves at the moment to be ready for a move tomorrow evening (European time) although today’s earnings reports from Twitter, Alibaba and the world’s largest company (Apple) will move equity markets slightly.
Lower than expected U.S. home sales yesterday and a weaker Dollar assisted the Gold price yesterday, it finished up at $1,166.20 slightly below its 200 day moving average so investors are keen to see if it will move above this important level in the next few days. The Crude Oil market is now firmly bearish after reaching a high point at the beginning of October, the U.S. WTI Crude ended down at $43.70 with similiar moves from UK Brent Crude.
Trading Diary:
11:55am It has been a quiet morning on the markets but I’ve just seen a possible ‘short’ trade setting up on my UK FTSE100 chart – more comments soon.
12:15am Just entered a ‘short’ position on my FTSE100 chart, it’s a trendFX strategy-1 set-up and as movement on most indices has been stifled today, the stop loss is just 8 pips.
13:35pm As expected, the opening of the U.S. trading session has made the FTSE100 slightly more volatile so I’ve just closed off my trade at +21 pips. Chart screenshot of the trade will be sent across to students in a minute.
14:10pm Off for a cycle ride then more meetings here so no more trading for me today.
09:35am This is my last day of trading ahead of a four-day trip away so at home for most of the day and any trades I have will be reported here. Already been out on a cycle ride this morning, so Market Update slightly later than usual.
Market Update:
As subscribers of my daily ‘Trading-Guidance’ service will be aware, the S&P500 looks to be turning bearish again – the index has been below its 200 day moving average since August but now the weekly chart seems to be at a bearish reversal point and if you would like the screenshot I’ve sent out this morning on the subject just email me. Yesterday’s U.S. markets ended down after another raft of top companies reported their latest earnings and energy stocks suffered most as Crude Oil prices fell following this week’s inventory numbers – there was another build over the last 7-days, this time up over 8 million barrels. Commodity traders concerns over the world economy is not helping the situation as demand is still falling with no light at the end of tunnel yet.
Today is the European Central Bank meeting to set the minimum lending rate for the next month and while nobody is expecting any movement, investors will be more interested in how much money-printing Mario Draghi will announce, his comments are due at lunchtime together with the latest U.S. employment situation.
Trading Diary:
11:15am Just entered a ‘long’ position on my U.S. WTI Crude chart — it’s a trendFX strategy-3 set-up with a whopping 21 pip stop loss.
13:00pm Off out to lunch at The Harbour Inn so I’ve set my profit at +21 pips and bought my stop loss upto -10 pips to give it a bit of room to manoeuvre as there’s a few economic announcements due out very soon.
15:40pm Back from lunch and my WTI position reached its target earlier and was closed off. Nothing else on my charts at the moment, I will have another look in an hour or so.
16:55pm Nothing on my charts, so that’s it for the day trading wise, back at my charts next Tuesday.
07:40am Relatively early start for me today as I’m playing golf later this morning after a couple of hours of emailing first.
Market Update:
The overnight Asian trading session ended mixed with the Japanese Nikkei 225 up nearly 2% but Chinese indices suffered from a bout of late selling which resulted in negative scores for Wednesday. Last night in the U.S. both the Dow Jones 30 and wider S&P 500 finished very slightly down with levels being affected by the autumn reporting season. Amongst companies reporting yesterday was computer giant IBM who announced continued revenue falls which resulted in a 5% drop in the share price and today there are results from Ebay, Coca Cola and Boeing among others. Also, car enthusiasts such as myself will be watching with interest Ferrari’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange later today – will parent company Fiat/Chrysler consider floats for Ducati and Maserati as well ?
Gold suffered from a bout of profit taking this week but as the price hit the 200 moving average early yesterday it bounced back up and ended Tuesday’s session $4.70 (+0.5%) up at $1175.30 – so price movement over the next few days will confirm whether the significant 200MA level will hold. As usual for a Wednesday, Crude Oil traders will be watching U.S. Crude Inventory levels this afternoon for clues on direction for the rest of the week, WTI Crude ended yesterday’s session 46 cents down at $45.90 with UK Brent falling a similiar amount.
Trading Diary:
08:15am As you would expect, there’s nothing much to see on the charts as the European trading session gets underway so I am off for a cycle ride for an hour or so now.
10:05am Brief look at charts but nothing to get excited about – off for game of golf now.
13:45pm Been back a little while and I’ve just got into a ‘short’ UTB trade on my S&P 500 chart. My stop loss is better than it should have been due to my late entry, it is just 18 pips.
16:25pm The S&P 500 price has come down quite nicely but for some reason it has become volatile in the past 30 minutes so I am now out of my position. My score is +45 pips and I will send over a chart screenshot with my ‘Nick’s Trades’ email later this evening.
17:50pm No more trades – back to the Golf Club now for the evening
09:05am No trading or Market Update yesterday as I was still away on a long weekend break in France. I got home earlier this morning and will be here for most of today so if I have any trades they will be reported here.
My UTB trade late on Friday ended up reaching its +26 pip target while I was out.
Market Update:
There was a fairly quiet Asian trading session overnight with the Nikkei 225 and Shanghai indices slightly up but the Hang Seng down 0.37% and this followed the very unexciting U.S. on Monday. There was not a great deal of economic news out yesterday so traders were left searching for bargains without any clues and the leading Dow Jones 30 index ended the day just 14 points up at 17,430.
On the back of this, Europe has opened this morning very slightly down although there Mark Carney’s speech later this morning to give the FTSE 100 some direction plus U.S. Building Starts at lunchtime so we could see some bigger moves later in the day. Gold had a largely negative day on Tuesday and the price came down to rest on its 200 moving average after a long run up that culminated in a three-month high last Thursday. The last few days of bearish movement is mainly down to the strength of the U.S. Dollar and a certain amount of profit taking from commodity traders.
Trading Diary:
09:35am Not much to see on my collection of favourite charts so I am off for a cycle across to Halesworth.
11:50am While I was out exercising I missed a ‘long’ trendFX opportunity on my Gold chart but I have managed to enter a UTB position on the German Dax 30 a few moments ago — it is also a ‘long’ trade and my stop loss is 18 pips.
13:05pm Just been invited out to lunch at The Swan and as my Dax trade was well into profit I have now closed it off. It’s ended up at +52 pips.
22:10pm No further trades to report for today – I was out for most of the afternoon.
08:00am Day at home doing some repairs so I may have time to watch my collection of ‘favourite’ charts – any trades I have will be reported here.
Market Update:
Markets ended bullish last night in the U.S. and that sentiment carried on overnight in Asia with the Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng Index and Nikkei Stock Average 225 ended up. This move was prompted by weak U.S. manufacturing numbers which gives traders a reason to believe the Federal Reserve will delay their rate rise until early next year. Strong earnings from leading banks also helped equities to end the session positively with the Dow Jones 30 finishing last night 217 points ahead and the wider S&P 500 also around 1.5% up. This bullish sentiment means the price on the S&P 500 daily chart has risen to the significant 200 moving average which is currently acting as a resistance level so next week’s movement may confirm a move into a bull market.
Gold continued its move up and yesterday reached its best level for 4 months at $1187.50 and is now over its own 200 day moving average on the daily chart although the overnight Asian session has seen some profit taking and it is moving down slightly, currently at $1175.80. U.S. oil futures had a volatile day after the weekly Crude Inventories numbers revealed a build of over 7 million barrels for the past 7 days, the WTI Crude ended the day at $46.85 and is slightly ahead this morning at $47.10.
Trading Diary:
09:35am Not a lot happening on my charts so I am off on a cycle ride for a few hours.
12:10pm No trades to report and off to lunch now.
16:20pm Been watching my charts on and off for the last hour since I’ve been home and I have eventually found a UTB opportunity. I have just entered a long position on my AUD/JPY chart with a 26 pip stop loss.
18:55pm As it’s Friday evening, the Lord Nelson is beckoning but my AUD/JPY is still trundling away (fairly positively) so I’ve brought the stop loss up to break even and set the profit at +26 pips.
07:45am Early start this morning as I want to get on with emails and some chart watching for a few hours before I am off after lunch to a clay pigeon shoot. Any trades I have will be detailed here as usual.
Market Update:
Overnight the Asian markets were bullish after below average U.S. economic data was released last night. The Federal Reserve’s ‘Beige Book’ highlighted a stalled economy and lack of growth which in turn gave Asian equity markets a boost as it was perceived that a U.S. rate rise would be put off until early next year at least. The Hang Seng performed best (+475 points) with the Nikkei 225 and Shanghai Composite both up over 1% on the previous session’s close. On the back of this optimism, European equities are also expected to be bullish this morning and already the German Dax 30 has opened around 30 points ahead.
Gold had another good session on Wednesday, it ended up over 1% at $1180 last night although it is having a rest early this morning and may be subject to some profit taking after a rise this week of over $30. On the Crude Oil market it is U.S. Inventories today and there is an expectation of a build of 2.2 million barrels over last week’s figure which is less than the 3.1 million barrels that was announced last Thursday. This week has seen a generally bearish trend for U.S. WTI Crude and the price is currently sitting on both the 20 and 50 day moving average and this afternoon’s figures may well give the price a quick boost.
Trading Diary:
09:05am Not much happening on my group of favourite charts so I am off for a cycle ride for a few hours.
23:50pm No trades to report today, I was out from midday so no chart watching from then on
08:10am No trading for me today I am catching up on jobs around the house although I will be doing some emails for the next hour or so.
Market Update:
Markets in Asia were in a bearish mood overnight with the Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng and Japanese Nikkei 225 indices all ended in negative territory earlier this morning. The main cause was disappointing inflation data from China which seems to be confirming the overall slowdown of their economy and over in the U.S. earnings from major banks have so far failed to excite the markets either. Both the Dow Jones 30 and wider S&P 500 ended Tuesday’s session in the red and prospects for today’s session does not look much better with more economic data released this afternoon. Here in the UK there is employment numbers and average earnings numbers out in just over an hour so that will give the FTSE 100 its direction for the rest of the morning before the U.S. starts trading at lunchtime.
Gold is continuing its march upwards, it has now had four positive sessions and has been in a bullish mood since the beginning of August although the latest optimism has been caused by a few U.S. Federal Reserve members observing that the impending rate rise is now looking more likely in 2016 than the end of this year – it finished up $5.70 last night at $1168.80 and is currently higher still at $1173.90
07:45am After a busy time yesterday I am having a relaxing day at home so any trades I have will be reported here through the day.
Market Update:
The overnight Asian session was fairly negative after Chinese Trade Balance figures came in better than expected but when you look behind the numbers you can see that exports declined another 3.7% and imports fell over 20% which the eleventh straight fall. This disappointing news caused the Shanghai Composite to end the session just 11 points down although the Hang Seng and Nikkei 225 did fair worse. This bearish sentiment has transferred over here to Europe this morning in the form of a fairly subdued start to today’s trading with both the FTSE 100 and Dax 30 opening very slightly down.
The U.S. session was quite slow yesterday due to the Columbus Day Bank Holiday, the S&P 500 finished just 2 points up on Friday’s close but overall the daily chart looks quite bullish and has been since the reversal candle on the 29th September. This week sees some big bank earning’s reports so we may see a third week of advances in the main U.S. index of the top 500 companies. Gold is continuing its rise from the $1100 level of September and yesterday’s positive session reflects the concern traders and investors have over the slowing world economy together with increased tensions in Syria – although the price on the daily chart did reverse at the 200 day moving average so today’s trading could be interesting.
Trading Diary:
08:00am If the price on the German Dax 30 drops below 10,077 in the next hour or so there will be a bearish UTB trade.
08:15am Now in the ‘short’ UTB position – as it is on the 4hr chart my stop loss is slightly higher than normal at 60 pips.
09:25am The German ZEW Economic Sentiment announcement is out soon and I’m happy with the score on my Dax trade so I am out now. The profit has come in at +107 pips.
09:40am A neighbour who’s well over 90 years old has just arrived for a cycle ride so I am now closing my charts and venturing out into the sunshine.
12:25pm Been back home for the last hour but nothing much happening on my charts so I’m off out for lunch.
14:00pm Possible trendFX trade setting up on my Gold chart.
14:10pm The Gold price has moved up sufficiently to trigger a ‘long’ position using strategy-3 from the trendFX manual, my stop loss is 32 pips.
16:55pm Happy with a small profit out of my Gold position, now out with +45 pips giving me +152 pips for the day.
09:05am In and out of the house today so not sure how much trading I shall be doing yet – any trades I do have will be posted here as usual. Late Market Update this morning as I was out on an early morning cycle ride.
Market Update:
Looking at my charts early this morning for my daily ‘Trading-Guidance’ service I noticed that the main U.S. indices are losing their recent bullish sentiment and seem to be at the mercy of profit-takers after having one of its best weeks of this year. There are quite a few bearish reversal candles around on various S&P 500 timeframes to the week may not start off well. The overnight Asian session was positive for Chinese equities with both the Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite ending up – no news for the Japanese Nikkei 225 index though as the country is observing their interestingly named ‘Health-Sports’ bank holiday.
Crude oil markets are experiencing some bullish moves as the U.S. rig count drops as drillers continued to remove rigs from the production cycle. Last week there were another nine rigs removed from production and this obviously affects the amount of oil coming out of the ground – U.S. WTI Crude had a positive week and ended last Friday with the largest one-week rise since August.
Trading Diary:
10:50am Possible UTB setting up on my UK Brent Crude Oil chart.
11:10am Now in the ‘short’ UTB position – my stop loss is just 16 pips and as I am off out shortly and not sure when I’m back home this will probably be quite a quick trade.
11:20am The Brent Crude price has just shot down nicely and reversed up slightly to $52.60 so I have closed off my position at +23 pips. I will send out a chart screenshot to students later this afternoon whenever I’m back.
