09:05am CET (08:05 UK Time)   A nice lazy start and a day at home in the sun for me today so I may have some trades to report as the day progresses.

The U.S. markets had a reasonably optimistic session yesterday on the back of positive earning results, weaker Dollar and cheap oil prices as levels rise towards the next resistance point although Europe was slightly more subdued as traders wonder just how much more buying is possible over here. The German Dax 30 index has been subject to profit taking over the past few sessions and seems to have developed a new resistance level around 12,400 as worries over Greece continue to weigh heavily but the London FTSE 100 was at new highs yesterday despite being in the middle of an election campaign with all the uncertainty that it brings.

Crude oil prices in the U.S. rose to the highest level for 2015 after the Energy Information Administration announced that weekly inventory numbers rose by just 1.3million barrels instead of the widely expected 4million. This news gave commodity traders some hope that demand was picking up as well as production falling and yesterday’s large rise means that the WTI Crude price is now well above the previous $54 resistance area so further gains are possible in the eyes of technical traders although watch for some exhaustion selling back to that level first.  Although Gold had a positive session yesterday it is still stuck in the narrow band between $1180 and $1220 and traders are waiting to see where the indices go in the next few weeks before any concerted buying or selling takes place, my daily chart does suggest a move up to $1210 in the short term.

Market Close Wednesday 15th April 2015:   Dow Jones 30  +75.91 @ 18,112.61  S&P 500  +3.41 @ 2,095.84  NASDAQ  -11.56 @ 4,397.65  FTSE 100  +10.96 @ 7,075.26  UK AIM  +2.27 @ 741.80  DAX 30  -111.13 @ 12,227.60  CAC 40  -36.06 @ 5,218.06  IBEX   -161.70 @ 11,704.70   Nikkei 225 (Today)  -71.43 @ 19,837.25  Hang Seng (currently)  -10.15 @ 27,551.34

All times below are CET (UK Time +1hr)

09:25am    Nothing much happening on my charts at the moment so I’m off for a cycle ride along the bay path southward with some friends who arrived earlier – back in an hour or so.

11:55am    Been back a short while and I’ve just got into a ‘short’ trade on my S&P 500 chart using one of the trendFX strategies. My stop loss is 28 pips.

13:40pm    Going off for lunch in a minute  in town so I’ve closed off my S&P position — fairly happy with the score, it’s managed +70 pips.

15:55pm    Back from lunch and scanning a few charts – there’s a possible ‘short’ trade setting up on my Gold chart.

16:10pm    I am now in a ‘short’ position on Gold using the same trendFX set-up as this morning – my stop loss is 28 pips.

16:50pm    Just come out of my Gold trade, it’s resulted in a +59 pip profit and I’m off now for a while to give a neighbour a lift to Inca.

20:10pm    Just arrived back home so no trading to report for the evening — and we’ve just been invited on a day out on a friend’s boat tomorrow, so no Market Update in the morning and no trading all day as we’re off at 7am.

07:40am CET (06:40 UK Time)     Another day out of the house so no trading for me until later this evening – I have a long meeting with planning officials in Palma.

The U.S. is the main driver of world markets as it is still the largest economy for the moment and despite an early sell-off yesterday the Dow Jones 30 did eventually post a small gain of 59 points after encouraging results from JP Morgan and rising oil prices and is now looming close to the recent resistance area of 18,100 – so watch out for more bullish moves above this level. The wider S&P 500 is also in an optimistic mood and if it rises over 2100 there should also be further gains (currently 2095.20).  Sentiment in Europe is slightly different as we wait for April’s ECB rate announcement today although there is little doubt that Mario Draghi will keep it at its record low in the foreseeable future.  Greece is still weighing heavily on sentiment in the Eurozone with talk of a flash election as the anti-austerity Syriza party is failing in its promises to the populace and there’s now a real likelihood that the country will leave the Euro currency.

Crude oil staged a bullish rise during yesterday’s trading session with the U.S. WTI Crude ending the day $1:20 up at $53:29 on the back of continuing tensions within the Middle East and rising demand in the U.S. coupled with a weak Dollar and falling production although today’s inventory numbers at Cushing will give the market direction for the rest of the week. There is a fairly strong resistance level coming up at $54 so any move above that will have long term implications on the future price as it’s not been above this point since the beginning of this year.

Market Close Tuesday 14th April 2015:   Dow Jones 30  +59.66 @ 18,036.70  S&P 500  +3.41 @ 2,095.84  NASDAQ  -11.56 @ 4,397.65  FTSE 100  +10.96 @ 7,075.26  UK AIM  +2.27 @ 741.80  DAX 30  -111.13 @ 12,227.60  CAC 40  -36.06 @ 5,218.06  IBEX   -161.70 @ 11,704.70   Nikkei 225 (Today)  -71.43 @ 19,837.25  Hang Seng (currently)  -10.15 @ 27,551.34

All times below are CET (UK Time +1hr)

18:00pm    Been home for an hour and as it’s six o’clock I’ve just switched my S&P 500 chart on to see if there’s any ‘Trade With A Day Job’ opportunities – report back soon.

18:10pm    In a TWADJ ‘short’ position with a 15 pip stop loss.

18:25pm    Just been stopped out of my S&P 500 trade but there is a potential UTB pattern setting up on the same instrument currently.

18:55pm    Now in a ‘long’ UTB trade on my S&P 500 chart with a 25 pip stop loss.

20:20pm    We’re off out soon so I’ve come out of my S&P position at +51 pips.

08:10am CET (07:10 UK Time)   No trading for me today, out ocean fishing with some trader friends in a few hours so I’m here in the study early doing emails and a couple of Skype calls before I go off.

There was feeling of pessimism in U.S. and Asian markets yesterday and early this morning as traders worry about the short term prospects of global economic growth. There is also the looming problem of the imminent Fed rate rise and traders are split at the moment as to whether it’s going to be June or November/December but as we are well into reporting season we should have a better idea at this month’s FOMC meeting, so far this week we are seeing disappointing company results, well below expectations.

Here in Europe the Greek situation marches on as rumours of a snap election is denied in Athens by government officials but the problem does seem insurmountable at the moment due to the stalemate between the new Syriza government with its leader Alex Tsipras and the ECB and the other lenders to the country – there should be some news by the end of this week and we may know by then whether Greece is heading for an exit from the Euro.

News in the Crude Oil market was dominated by the U.S. Energy Information Administration saying that there should be a drop in shale production this month, the first drop in 4 years. The level of production is set to fall by around 45,000 barrels a day to 5 million which should see prices firm up although OPEC will probably take the opportunity to fill the gap left by U.S. companies as they are reluctant to see a reason for prices to rise due to production shortages. WTI Crude was in a bullish mood on the back of this news and finished up 28 cents at nearly $52 and does seem to be heading towards the $54 resistance level by the end of this week.

Market Close Monday 13th April 2015:   Dow Jones 30  -80.61 @ 17,977.04  S&P 500  -9.63 @ 2,092.43  NASDAQ  -12.81 @ 4,409.21  FTSE 100  +48.94 @ 7,064.30  UK AIM  +3.38 @ 739.03  DAX 30  -36.00 @ 12,338.73  CAC 40  +13.66 @ 5,254.12  IBEX   +117.10 @ 11,866.40   Nikkei 225 (Today)  -20.98 @ 19,884.48  Hang Seng (currently)  -279.89 @ 27,736.45

All times below are CET (UK Time +1hr)

08:00am CET (07:00 UK time)    Not sure whether I will be doing a lot of trading today as I’ve errands to run in Palma plus a long cycle ride with some neighbours. Any trades I do have will be reported here later.

We are used to the ‘bad news is good news’ scenario over here in Europe (and the U.S.) but the overnight Asian session demonstrated this well after disappointing Chinese export data came in lower than expectations, showing a 15% decline year on year.  This bad news is fuelling hopes that the Chinese government will ramp up its stimulus measures to boost manufacturing and get their normally buoyant trade surplus back to late 2014 levels – it declined to just over $3 billion last month against expectations of $45 billion, although even the $3 billion result is a number David Cameron and Angela Merkel can only dream about !

Back to last week’s markets and the main U.S. indices ended on a high again with Friday’s session being boosted by General Electric’s announcement of a large-scale share buy-back scheme and sweeping restructuring plan which boosted their share price by just over 11%. This activity brought the main Dow Jones 30 index back over the 18,000 level again and the wider S&P 500 was similarly bullish as it looks to reach the 2115 resistance area again (currently at 2100)

The Euro is suffering from the ‘Greek problem’ again as rumours are circulating around Brussels and Berlin of European policy-makers preparing for a Greek exit (Grexit) from the Euro as the finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is so far is failing to give their lenders any concrete plans for debt repayment and this stopping any further releasing of funds to help run the country. Many commentators now think this course of action is steering the country to eventual bankruptcy as it leaves the Eurozone and this will inevitably have repercussions for the rest of Europe, the Euro was 3.35% down on the week by Friday night and is slightly down again at 1.05926 against the U.S. Dollar this morning.

Market Close Friday 10th April 2015:   Dow Jones 30  +98.92 @ 18,057.65  S&P 500  +10.88 @ 2,102.06  NASDAQ  +18.07 @ 4,422.02  FTSE 100  +74.41 @ 7,089.77  UK AIM  +3.29 @ 735.65  DAX 30  +208.29 @ 12,374.73  CAC 40  +31.51 @ 5,240.46  IBEX   +14.70 @ 11,749.30   Nikkei 225 (Today)  -17.12 @ 19,890.51  Hang Seng (currently)  +260.48 @ 27,532.87

All times below are CET (UK Time +1hr)

09:55am    Sitting here doing a Skype call with a new trader with an interest in trading Gold exclusively, I noticed a trendFX position setting up on my Gold chart so I am now in a short trade with a 32 pip stop loss.

11:45am   I do need to shoot off to Palma now so I’ve closed off my Gold trade with a +43 pip profit.

14:00pm    Back home for a short while so going to have a quick look at some charts.

14:10pm    In a UTB trade from my Master-The-Reversal system manual now, I entered a few minutes ago — also on my Gold chart.  The stop loss on this particular position is 22 pips and for people who trade this pattern, it is also a ‘BURT’ pattern as well

14:35pm    The U.S. trading session is getting going now so extra care needs to be taken if you are in a trade at this time –  so far my Gold position is doing ok and volatility is still quite low.

15:05pm    Out of my trade a few seconds ago and happy with a quick profit – I have come away with +58 pips, so +101 pips for the day. Going to send out a chart screenshot to students showing the exact details of the trade.

15:10pm    Neighbours just arrived for cycle ride so going to be away for a few hours at least —  so charts off now.

21:45pm     Just got back indoors so no trading to report tonight.

08:20am CET (07:20 UK time)   Last day of the trading week and I shall be around the house for most of the day so if I do find any trade opportunities I’ll report them here.

Earnings season is well underway in the U.S. so traders will be keenly watching the numbers to gauge the health of the economy over there and aluminium producer Alcoa were first out of the blocks yesterday with disappointing profit numbers but despite that, the Dow Jones index of the 30 leading companies finished 56 points higher at 17,958 and once again hit (and failed to go through) the recent resistance level at 17,990.  Interestingly, my DJ 30 daily chart shows the index is overbought at the moment so we may see moves down although the wider S&P 500 broke through it’s resistance at 2090 yesterday and after the overnight Asian session futures as sitting at 2094.9 at the moment. Over here in Europe Greece managed to pay their latest monthly loan repayment after a lot of argument but already worries are surfacing about May’s deadline as the general population continues to lose confidence in the banking sector and withdraws capital from the countries banks at a greater rate than any time for the last 6 months.

U.S. Crude oil had a varied session yesterday – the weekly petroleum status report from the US Energy Information Administration confirmed that crude stockpiles had increased at a greater rate for 14 years WTI Crude but then news that Iran wants to take a tougher stance on the current nuclear negotiations from President Rouhani meaning that increased crude exports will not hit the market yet countered traders pessimism  and as a result the closing price was largely unchanged on the day —  currently the price is sitting at $50:64 with UK Brent Crude at $56:50 after a poor Asian session.

Market Close Thursday 9th April 2015:   Dow Jones 30  +56.22 @ 17,958.73  S&P 500  +9.28 @ 2,091.18  NASDAQ  +27.99 @ 4,403.95  FTSE 100  +77.95 @ 7,015.36  UK AIM  +6.84 @ 732.36  DAX 30  +130.58 @ 12,166.44  CAC 40  +72.09 @ 5,208.95  IBEX   +79.10 @ 11,734.60   Nikkei 225 (Today)  -30.90 @ 19,907.63  Hang Seng (currently)  +93.35 @ 27,037.74

All times below are CET (UK time +1hr)

09:45am    Been out for a quick cycle ride but now I’m back I can report I am in a ‘long’ position on my Gold chart using my Magic-Line set-up – stop loss is 18 pips.

12:05am    Just come indoors and had a quick look at my charts and seen a good rise in the Gold price so I am now out of my position with a +73 pip profit.

14:50pm    Back from a relaxing (& large) lunch and the only excitement I can see on my chart is ‘short’ UTB trade setting up on the French CAC 40.  I am not a great fan of trades on this index as the daily movement is quite poor when compared to my favourites but it will serve as a good teaching exercise for students later.

15:05pm    The aforementioned position has triggered and I am now in the trade with a 9 pip stop loss.  There was almost the same pattern on the German Dax 30 (as is quite normal) but it was not a valid set-up so it had to be left alone.

16:40pm    Just come out of my CAC trade as the price has slowed quite considerably and the bearish momentum is not as strong now – I have managed +13 pips.

18:00pm     I find myself around the house at the moment so I shall switch on my S&P 500 chart to see if there are any ‘Trade With A Day Job’ opportunities in the next few hours before we are out for the evening.

18:25pm     I am now in a ‘long’ TWADJ position with a 15 pip stop loss.

19:30pm     ….and now I’m out of my TWADJ position – been stopped out at minus 15 pips !  We’re out shortly so I’m not going to look for any further trades and my total for the day on the market is +71 pips.

08:40am CET (07:40 UK time)   Going to be out for most of the day in Palma with friends but will be here in the study for an hour or so catching up on emails

Even though the markets yesterday were waiting for the release of last month’s Fed minutes, traders were slightly confused and not sure whether to buy or sell as although the general consensus was for an early rate rise with the majority of members were going for a June or September rise in the minimum lending rate – but the actual meeting was before last Friday’s disappointing U.S. jobs data so largely can be discounted and in the end things are broadly as before with the benchmark S&P 500 index is continuing its rise from the 2040 support level that’s been holding steady for the past month or so. Here in Europe, equity markets were slightly subdued yesterday as EU bigwigs issued Greece with an ultimatum to come forward with some concrete proposals in the next 6 days concerning their fiscal responsibilities and as yet the best that the Greeks cam manage is a promise to pay some of their outstanding interest commitments by tonight with no prospect of a firm resolution to the bigger problem.  The general optimism in the U.S. last night does however look to be spilling over to Europe this morning, so expect equities to be bullish for a while.

The Crude Oil market had the weekly U.S. stock figures out yesterday and against the consensus there was a rise in the amount of oil stored at Cushing by nearly 11 million barrels which is the highest weekly jump in 14 years and surprised traders to the extent that U.S. WTI Crude fell over 6% to $50.25 per barrel by the end of the session yesterday. The price does seem to be obeying the $54 resistance level that’s been in force since early February and with no great increase in global demand it is hard to see the price trading over the narrow corridor it’s been in during 2015.

Market Close Wednesday 8th April 2015:   Dow Jones 30  +27.09 @ 17,902.51  S&P 500  +5.57 @ 2,081.90  NASDAQ  +31.88 @ 4,375.96  FTSE 100 -24.36 @ 6,937.41  UK AIM  +3.17 @ 725.52  DAX 30 -87.66 @ 12,035.86  CAC 40 -14.33 @ 5,136.86  IBEX  -75.00 @ 11,655.50   Nikkei 225 (Today)  +149.29 @ 19,939.10  Hang Seng (currently)  +728.48 @ 26,965.34

All times below are CET (UK Time +1hr)

20:05pm     Been back a short while and just turned on my S&P 500 chart to look for some ‘Trade With A Day Job’ trades as I’ve a number of email questions about the strategy from some new traders who’ve just started trading it.

20:30pm    Did not have to wait too long — I’m now in a ‘long’ position with a 20 pip stop loss.

21:35pm    I came out of the trade 5 minutes ago with an 86 pip profit.

08:15am CET (07:15 UK time)   Busy day at home today with the builders in again and some trader friends coming over this afternoon. Any trades I have during the day will be outlined here as they develop.

My daily S&P 500 chart shows an overbought situation together with the fact that during yesterday’s trading session the price failed to rise above the 2090 resistance level so we may see further moves down as traders have run out of reasons to be bullish – a move down past the 2075 level may trigger further losses but tonight’s FOMC meeting minutes at 7pm UK time may reverse any early losses as commentators search through the rhetoric to find clues as to when the imminent rate rise will actually occur.  European equities had a bullish session yesterday on the back of encouraging services PMI data for last month which came in at its best level for nearly a year and lower Euro and crude oil prices and euro helping exports and reduce purchase costs but France does continue to concern traders as it lagging slightly behind Germany and a few other EU members.

U.S. Crude oil markets hit the $54 resistance level again during yesterday’s session as this week’s stock numbers at Cushing which are released later this afternoon are expected to show a slight fall together with expectations that the Iranian deal is not going to have much impact to crude production until well into 2016. My daily WTI Crude chart is well overbought and shows that any move this week below the $51 level should trigger a further move downwards.

Market Close Tuesday 7th April 2015:   Dow Jones 30  -5.43 @ 17,875.42  S&P 500  -4.29 @ 2,076.33  NASDAQ  -6.90 @ 4,344.08  FTSE 100 +128.31 @ 6,961.77  UK AIM  +7.10 @ 722.35  DAX 30 +156.13 @ 12,123.52  CAC 40 +77.05 @ 5,151.19  IBEX  +96.50 @ 11,730.50   Nikkei 225 (Today)  +137.01 @ 19,777.55  Hang Seng (currently)  +674.79 @ 25,950.53

All times below are CET (UK Time +1hr)

09:00am   Nothing much happening on my charts so far today so off for a quick cycle ride to stretch my legs.

10:35am    Possible UTB pattern setting up on my S&P 500 chart.

11:05am    The UTB on my S&P 500 chart has just triggered so I am in a ‘short’ position with a 28 pip stop loss.

13:30pm    Going into town for lunch and as my S&P trade is not really going anywhere I’ve set my stop loss at break even and put a target at +28 pips.

15:55pm    Just got back from town and I can see my trade was stopped out which surprisingly I am quite pleased about (I can never really bring myself to get worried about losing trades…)  as it gives me an opportunity to show new traders who are trading my various strategies the danger of trading around the U.S. trading session open.  When I entered my trade the S&P 500 was showing strong signs of a downward movement and for a few hours it did gradually trundle south but as soon as traders got to their desks in New York and Chicago, the index has quickly reversed and shot up at an alarming rate

08:05am CET (07:05am UK time)    Back to ‘work’ after the long weekend Easter break for most today and I shall be here in the study catching up on emails that have come in over the last four to five days together with some chart watching and a cycle ride to Formentor later on. If I have any trades I will report details here later on.

While most of Europe’s traders have been away from their desks there’s been the monthly U.S. jobs data released in the form of the Non Farm Payrolls on Friday and disappointing figures showed that only 126,000 jobs were added to the economy in March, well down on the widely expected 246,000.  This announcement caused an immediate sell-off in American equities and both the Dow Jones 30 and S&P 500 finished down on the day although as you would expect, the buyers were back in the market yesterday as the prospect of a summer U.S. interest rate rise now looks to be less likely as the economy is not growing as strong as the Fed has been speculating. This rally yesterday put the S&P 500 back to the same level as last Monday so all of last week’s losses have been erased although the DJ 30 is lagging slightly and is still in a bearish trend that kicked off at the beginning of March.  As it’s the first day back for many European traders this morning, the main German, French and UK indices are expected to be fairly optimistic at the open following last night’s lead across the Atlantic.

News in the Oil market is fairly bullish at the moment as news has reached trading desks that Saudi Arabia has increased prices to to their Asian customers together with the fact that any increase in production from Iran following their landmark deal with the rest of the world over sanctions will not be seen on the worldwide oil market until well into 2016.  This should be tempered with news that Goldman Sachs has suggested to customers that crude prices need to remain low to achieve “a sufficient and sustainable slowdown in U.S. production growth” but bigger draw-downs from stock at Cushing, Wyoming and increased demand in the coming months should keep values from falling through the floor to early January levels.

Gold has had a good run up in the past few weeks on the back of general uncertainty in the equity markets but it is now (again) hit the resistance level at $1220 and started its retreat downwards so watch for bearish trade opportunities this week.

Market Close Monday 6th April 2015:   Dow Jones 30  +117.61 @ 17,880.85  S&P 500  +13.66 @ 2,080.62  NASDAQ  +34.97 @ 4,350.98  FTSE 100 6,833.46  UK AIM  715.25  DAX 30  11,967.39  CAC 40  5,074.14  IBEX  11,634.00   Nikkei 225 (Today)  +239.50 @ 19,637.48  Hang Seng (currently)  +192.89 @ 25,275.64

All times below are CET ( UK/GMT +1 hr)

08:55am   Nothing much happening on my charts so far this morning so I am off for a cycle ride for a couple of hours up towards Formentor.

12:35pm   Just had a possible ‘long’ trade on my Dax 30 chart show up (trendFX set-up) and I am now waiting for the price to rise above 12083 to trigger the position.

12:55pm    I am in the Dax trade with a 15 pip stop loss. It’s a strategy one set-up from the trendFX manual

13:30pm    A friend of mine has broken down in her car on the Ma-10 just outside Pollensa town so I am off to help – I’ve moved my stop loss on the trade to break even and placed the profit target at a cheeky +50 pips.

15:10pm    Just got back and I can see my Dax trade did get up as far as +43 pips but has retreated back down slightly now, I shall fix myself some lunch now and reassess the situation in a short while.

15:30pm     My trade is sitting at +18 pips so I shall wait to see if the price gets back up around the 12,130 level that we saw an hour ago.

16:35pm     The Dax price has risen quite well over the last 30 minutes so I am now out of my position with a +57 pip profit.

16:50pm    Just had a very quick glance at my charts before going off to sort out a problem in the bottom field and there’s a potential ‘long’ trade setting up very quickly on my U.S. Crude Oil chart – the price only needs to move up a few more pips and it will trigger another trendFX trade.

16:55pm    In the WTI Crude ‘long’ position, my stop loss is 40 pips – it’s going to be quite a quick trade for reasons I will explain to students in an email shortly.  This time it’s a strategy three pattern.

17:20pm    As expected, I am now out of the WTI Crude with a +45 pip profit so just over the 100 pip mark for the day…

17:50pm    Just had an invite I cannot turn down so I’m shutting down my charts fo rthe day.

09:20am  ~  A late start as there’s no trading for me today as we are off to Majorca at lunchtime and I have a few errands and jobs to do before then.

U.S. markets were caught with the usual bad news is good news syndrome yesterday after disappointing jobs data together with lower than expected ISM Manufacturing numbers as well so initially the announcement was greeted with a trader’s buying spree as it was seen that the forthcoming interest rate rise would be out on hold until the economy recovers slightly but close to the end of the session there was a bout of profit taking and both main U.S. indices ended slightly down on the day.  Tomorrow is Non Farm Payrolls day and for most of the world it is a bank holiday so today may well be a bit quiet as far as indices are concerned as many traders are not going to be able to trade.

The crude oil market also moved at odds to the data – there was another build in stocks at Cushing, Wyoming which should have put further pressure on values but contrary to this U.S. WTI Crude rose on the day by just over $2 to $49:55 although expectations of failure of talks with Iran meant that there would not be a lifting in sanctions meaning Iranian oil production would still be heavily controlled and this seemed to out-trump the very high stock in the U.S.   Disappointing U.S. economic data had investors moving over to Gold yesterday and as I suggested yesterday, the price rose above $1190 and kept going upwards to a session high at $1207 although it has retraced slightly overnight and is currently sitting at $1202.

 Market Close Wednesday 1st April 2015:   Dow Jones 30  -77.94 @ 17,698.18  S&P 500  -8.20 @ 2,059.69  NASDAQ  -22.43 @ 4,311.26  FTSE 100  +36.46 @ 6,809.50  UK AIM  -0.88 @ 715.32  DAX 30  +35.21 @ 12,001.38  CAC 40  +28.58 @ 5,062.22  IBEX  +48.70 @ 11,569.80   Nikkei 225 (Today)  +277.95 @ 19,312.79  Hang Seng (currently)  +185.24 @ 25,267.99

07:50am  ~ After an enjoyable day out yesterday I am looking forward to having a relaxing day at home now catching up on emails and doing some charts watching.

Both the Dow Jones 30 and S&P 500 indices had negative sessions yesterday and hit a previous support level intraday so now look poised to stage a rebound today or tomorrow if they can climb over Tuesday’s high. The move down in the U.S. was yet again caused by good news appearing bad as consumer confidence data showed a better than expected jump from February’s number and this in turn prompted Fed member Jeffery Lacker to call for a rise in interest rates as soon as June which then sent the markets into a sell-off mode with traders hurriedly booking recent profits. Over here in Europe the mood was equally bearish with all the main indices also ending in negative territory and Berksire Hathaway boss Warren Buffet musing that a Greek exit from the EU would ultimately be a good thing for both the region and Greece itself.  This did nothing for the strength of the Euro and it lost 65 pips against the U.S. Dollar to end the session at 1.07490 although after the overnight Asian session it’s up slightly more at 1.07850.

Crude oil was again under pressure during Tuesday’s session as talks regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions give rise to the possibility of increased production from them coming onto the world market, this prospect caused further falls in the U.S. benchmark WTI Crude, it ended at $47:60 almost a Dollar down and is still falling this morning. Gold also suffered yesterday after calls for increased U.S. interest rates, it dropped $1.25 on the day to $47:40 although there was a minor reversal candle on the daily chart with some signs of being oversold so watch for a rebound upwards if the price goes above $1190 today.

Market Close Tuesday 31st March 2015:   Dow Jones 30  -200.19 @ 17,77.12  S&P 500  -18.35 @ 2,067.89  NASDAQ  -49.13 @ 4,333.69  FTSE 100  -118.39 @ 6,773.04  UK AIM  -3.53 @ 716.20  DAX 30  -119.84 @ 11,966.17  CAC 40  -49.88 @ 5,033.64  IBEX  -8.00 @ 11,521.10   Nikkei 225 (Today)  -150.11 @ 19,056.88 Hang Seng (currently)  +148.63 @ 25,049.52

09:15am  ~  A quick glance at my charts a few minutes ago shows just one possibility so far this morning – a trendFX ‘short’ opportunity on my Gold chart.

09:30am  ~  I am now in that trendFX trade – it’s a strategy 3 pattern with a 23 pip stop loss.

10:10am  ~  Just got into a very quick Dax 30 trade (another trendFX strategy 3 set-up) I am not sure how much further the index has to go upwards — stop loss on this one is 19 pips. My Gold trade is still doing ok.

10:40am  ~  The German Dax index has hit a weekly resistance level and retraced slightly so I am now out of that position – my profit was +45 pips.

11:05am  ~  The Gold price now has also hit a significant level, this time a support level from last night’s session so I am out of that position as well as I get ready for a cycle ride with a neighbour. Profit is +32 pips.

14:40pm  ~  Back from lunch in town and I’m once again in a trendFX trade on my Gold chart although this time it’s a ‘long’ position I have a 33 pip stop loss.

15:50pm  ~  The Gold price has risen quickly and now that the bullish momentum has calmed down slightly, I am out of the trade with a +69 pip profit.