07:45am  ~ I don’t expect I’ll be doing much trading today – later this morning I’m off to a clay pigeon shoot and then shopping in Norwich later this afternoon.

Equity markets had a good session yesterday and the momentum has carried on overnight in Asia with good gains in the Nikkei 225 and HangSeng. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices are almost back to the record levels we witnessed at the beginning of this month after the biggest two day gain for 3 years and this bullish sentiment is being attributed to good corporate earnings and economic data plus no interest rate hike until at least March next year. One caveat is the resistance level around 2080 on the S&P 500 which has been hit earlier this morning in the futures market. This confidence in the U.S. economy has also spilled over into the money market and traders have moved back into the Dollar, pushing it 55 points up against the Euro.

Oil is still in the news as the Saudi Arabia Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi yesterday restated his commitment to keep current production levels steady which put further pressure on values with the U.S. WTI Crude eventually falling just over a Dollar to $55.13 after an initial surge in early trading and this morning it’s down a further 26 cents as I write this.

Gold is recovering slightly on high Asian demand ahead of the new year, it was up nearly $10 yesterday to $1198.  There was a nice reversal candle on the daily chart on Wednesday so we maybe seeing a short-term recovery towards the next resistance point at $1238

Market Close Thursday 18th December 2014:   Dow Jones 30  +421.28 @ 17,778.15  S&P 500  +48.34 @ 2,061.23  NASDAQ  +102.68 @ 4,267.77  FTSE 100  +129.52 @ 6,466.00  UK AIM  +8.72 @ 688.93  DAX 30  +266.63 @ 9,811.06  CAC 40  +137.58 @ 4,249.49  IBEX  +341.80 @ 10,391.30   Nikkei 225 (Today)  +386.22 @ 17,596.27  Hang Seng (currently)  +332.40 @ 23,164.1

07:55am  ~  Just been scrolling through my favourite charts and have spotted a ‘short’ UTB trade that’s triggered on the S&P 500, I am just waiting for a decent entry point. I was not thinking about trading this morning but it maybe some fun while I’m sitting here doing some emails.

08:10am  ~  I am now in a UTB position with a 21 pip stop loss.

09:15am  ~ Out of that position with a +21 pip profit and looking at a ‘long’ trendFX opportunity now on the same chart.

09:25am  ~  Now in ‘long’ on my S&P 500 chart with a trendFX strategy one position. Stop loss is 19 pips.

11:05am  ~  Just getting ready to go out and have just noticed my last S&P 500 trade has been stopped out at -19 pips.

08:35am  ~ In and out of the house all day today with various errands so not sure if I’ll be doing any trading – but will report back here if I do.

If you were trading my evening system last night you’ll be ware that the markets got a boost last night after Fed Chairman Janet Yellen intimated that a U.S. interest rate rise will not be occurring in the next few months at least.  This news sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average skywards and it had its biggest one day rise since last year with bond yields and the U.S. Dollar also shooting upwards and the optimism has spilled over to the Asian session early this morning where the Japanese Nikkei 225 advanced 184 points. The wider S&P 500 index has once again obeyed the 1970 support level from September and has bounced off it and is still rising this morning in the futures market.

Crude Oil has also had a boost yesterday as traders could see a buying opportunity after the WTI price hit a support around $54:25 and its value mirrored equities for the afternoon even though there was a less than expected drop in U.S. Crude Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma.   The rise in the U.S. Dollar yesterday plus the Fed’s outlook for US interest rates caused Gold prices to drop over $6 lower to $1188.6 and there was also rumours that Russia maybe forced to sell its gold reserves to prop up the falling Ruble.

Market Close Wednesday 17th December 2014:   Dow Jones 30  +288.00 @ 17,356.87  S&P 500  +40.15 @ 2,012.89  NASDAQ  +75.50 @ 4,165.10  FTSE 100  +4.65 @ 6,336.48  UK AIM  +0.38 @ 680.21  DAX 30  -19.46 @ 9,544.43  CAC 40  +18.71 @ 4,111.93  IBEX  -32.40 @ 10.049.50   Nikkei 225 (Today)  +390.32 @ 17,210.05  Hang Seng (currently)  +184.30 @ 22,770.14

16:20pm  ~  Not any trading for me so far as I’ve been out for most of the day but I may have a chance to look at my “Trade With A Day Job” charts later on.

18:05pm  ~  A bit late for me but I’ve just turned on my S&P 500 chart here in the kitchen and I’ll watch for any TWADJ opportunities while I cook supper for some friends.

18:20pm  ~  I am now in a ‘long’ position with the main “Trade With A Day Job” strategy — my stop loss is 20 pips.

18:55pm  ~  Now out of my TWADJ position at +20 pips.

07:55am  ~  I’m mostly at home today so I will report back later if I have any trades.

Following a large sell-off in U.S. equities last night mainly from technology stocks the markets will be closely watching the FOMC announcement today on U.S. interest rate policy with many traders fearing that an early rate rise is now a racing certainty.  Russia was also in the news yesterday with the falling value of the Ruble, rampant inflation together with rising interest rates – and as trading started in Moscow a few hours ago their currency has dropped a further 3.5% from yesterday although Russians are largely sheltered from this financial fall-out because of President Putin’s state-run press and media, meaning his popularity is still at normal (high) levels.

Crude oil markets had an initial bounce upwards yesterday from a low of $53.60 for WTI Crude which did prompt a rally in energy producers in the U.S. as well, but in later trading there was a retreat back down although traders attention will be on the U.S. stock situation  later today when new weekly numbers are released.

With all this worldwide turmoil and falling confidence in economies in Japan, Greece and others together with the rumours that Russian may start to default on loans, the value of Gold should keep rising after bouncing off its support level at $1132 in November although any hints at a rise in U.S. interest rates later today will stem any enthusiasm for this traditional safe haven investment.

Market Close Tuesday 16th December 2014:   Dow Jones 30  -111.97 @ 17,068.87  S&P 500  -16.89 @ 1,972.74  NASDAQ  -67.81 @ 4,089.60  FTSE 100  +149.11 @ 6,33.83  UK AIM  -6.57 @ 679.83  DAX 30  +229.88 @ 9,563.89  CAC 40  +87.82 @ 4,093.20  IBEX  +178.00 @ 10.081.90   Nikkei 225 (Today)  +64.41 @ 16,819.73  Hang Seng (currently)  -72.20 @ 22,598.30

09:05am  ~  Not much happening so far on my charts, they will probably be quite quiet until the Fed’s announcement later this evening, so I am taking this opportunity to have a cycle ride up the coastal path.

11:10am  ~ Been back for half an hour and the only thing I can see on my collection of charts here is a possible UTB pattern on my Gold chart.

11:25am  ~  I am now in a ‘long’ position on my Gold chart with a heady 19 pips.

12:55pm  ~  The Gold chart has become quite volatile so I am now out with a +32 pip profit.  Time for a walk upto the Lord Nelson for a quick lunch.

14:05pm  ~  Just returned home and managed to get a late entry into a ‘long’ UTB position on my WTI Crude chart. Stop loss is 31 pips.

15:25pm  ~  U.S. Crude Oil inventories numbers out in 5 minutes so stop in place at break even in case of high number.

16.00pm ~  Crude Oil market has risen on U.S. Crude Inventories numbers that were higher than expected – my trade is sitting at +136 pips.

17:45pm  ~  Just come out of my WTI Crude trade at +371 pips – and there now looks like a ‘long’ trade setting up on the S&P 500 chart with my “Trade With A Day Job” system.

18:10pm  ~  Out of my S&P position as there is the Fed announcements etc. in a short while – I’ve come out at +30 pips.

08:10am  ~  I have a few hours here at home this morning replying to emails and then we’re off  Christmas shopping in London for the the rest of the day.

There was a brief respite in the equity market sell-off yesterday when better than expected U.S. manufacturing data gave a boost to the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices, but in the end the ongoing Crude Oil story dragged everything down again as the sea of red numbers below shows.  The United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Al Mazrouei joined in the argument for the first time yesterday by stating that OPEC would be ‘comfortable’ even if Crude Oil came down to $40 per barrel and this gives us some indication of how serious the Middle Eastern oil producers are to maintain their market share with the hope they will also destroy the U.S. shale boom in its infancy.  WTI Crude fell just over a dollar by the end of yesterday’s session and finished at $55:41.

The Euro experienced a volatile trading session yesterday amid fears that there’s going to be another Greek tragedy after Bond yields have shot up in Greece – previous experience has shown that nearly all Eurozone countries are inextricably linked so when one falls the rest usually follow.  Gold is also suffering even though equities are struggling, there are rumours that there maybe an early hike in U.S. interest rates and this will inevitably affect the money flow into this safe-haven asset.

Market Close Monday 15th December 2014:   Dow Jones 30  -99.99 @ 17,180.84  S&P 500  -12.70 @ 1,983.63  NASDAQ  -41.87 @ 4,157.42  FTSE 100  -117.91 @ 6,182.72  UK AIM  -6.72 @ 686.40  DAX 30  -260.72 @ 9,334.01  CAC 40  -103.55 @ 4,005.38  IBEX  -241.10 @ 9,903.90   Nikkei 225 (Today)  -344.08 @ 16,755.32  Hang Seng (currently)  -270.09 @ 22,757.76

09:55am  ~  I have just entered a ‘long’ position on my UK Brent Crude chart using the UTB pattern — my stop loss is 32 pips.  This will be a quick trade as we’re off in the next hour or so and I’m also trading against the bearish trend that’s overwhelming Crude Oil markets at the moment.

10:20am  ~  I set up a ‘take-profit’ order on my UTB trade just in case I was away while the trade was still running and I’ve just noticed the trade has ended with a score of +32 pips. No more trades now, we’re off soon for the rest of the day.

08:55am  ~  Late start for me just because it’s Monday morning and I’ve nothing much planned for the day so far. I shall spend a few hours here in the study doing emails and a bit of chart watching with a cycle ride out at some stage before lunchtime.

Bad news everywhere this morning – Traders seem to be mainly blaming the fall in Crude Oil values for the worldwide equities decline although if you look at a few charts you can see that the year-end rally that kicked off around the middle of October was due for a correction soon anyway so a lot of traders have been short for a while.  Arguably one of the most important indexes, the top 500 companies in the world’s biggest economy that make up the S&P500 has been faltering around the 2075 level since the end of November and last week started a bearish trend that’s not going to be helped by the overnight hostage situation in Sydney. Last week the other main U.S. index – the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered it’s biggest weekly loss since 2011 it lost over 300 points alone on Friday and this morning the futures price is hovering above the important support/resistance point at 17,300.

Crude Oil has now dropped well below the important $60 with traders trying to guess where the support may establish itself during the coming week – the WTI Crude price is currently trading at $58.37, slightly up on the low overnight of $56.71 and there does not appear to be anything that’s going to prop the value up – low worldwide demand that shows no sign of reversing into 2015 together with plentiful supplies, OPEC refusing to cut their production and now the International Energy Agency has once again reduced its global demand forecast – this is the fourth time in the last 5 months.

Over here in Europe the yield on Greek 10-year bonds risen dramatically around 200 base points over last week – this is the largest leap since the Eurozone sovereign-debt crisis in earlier 2012. This developing problem did not impact of the Euro last week but overnight trading in Asia has seen a small drop in the EUR/USD, it’s now trading at 1.2437 down from last week’s high of 1.2494.

Gold should benefit from these troubled times but so far this morning there is still a bearish tilt to the daily chart, there was a price reversal last Wednesday from a high of $1238.20 and is currently trading at $1214.00 with a support level at the important $1200 point.

Market Close Friday 12th December 2014:   Dow Jones 30  -315.51 @ 17,280.83  S&P 500  -33.00 @ 2,002.33  NASDAQ  -47.19 @ 4,199.28  FTSE 100  -161.07 @ 6,300.63  UK AIM  -4.93 @ 693.12  DAX 30  +267.80 @ 9,594.73  CAC 40  -116.93 @ 4,108.93  IBEX  -286.80 @ 10,145.00   Nikkei 225 (Today)  +272.18 @ 17,099.40  Hang Seng (currently)  -228.59 @ 23,020.61

10:05am ~ Just been glancing quickly through my favourite charts and there looks like a UTB ‘short’ trade setting up on my U.S. Crude Oil chart (WTI)

10:30am  ~  I am now in the UTB trade – my stop loss is 29 pips.

11:15am  ~  Still in trade – currently at +9 pips.

12:45pm  ~  Happy with the current position of my trade – so I am now out of the market with a +64 pip profit.

12:55pm  ~  Off for a quick cycle ride before more catching up on emails this afternoon.

14:30pm  ~  Back home now and I can see a UTB pattern on my Gold chart – if the price goes up over 1210.90 I shall get into a ‘long’ position.

14:55pm  ~  I am now in that UTB trade – my stop loss is 34 pips.

16:35pm  ~  I am now out of my Gold position with a profit of +45 pips.

18:40pm  ~  Been looking at my S&P 500 chart one and off for the last hour for “Trade With A Day Job” opportunities but nothing yet – but I am now in a ‘short’ position on Gold with one of the trendFX strategies.

23:35pm  ~  My earlier trendFX trade on my Gold chart ended up at +114 pips.

08:30am  ~  A bit of a lay in for me today after a late night out and I’m also not sure how much chart watching I will manage today as I have two cars to get down to Ipswich for servicing plus some clay-pigeon shooting if the rain calms down slightly.

U.S. equities staged a recovery on the open as better than expected retails sales and job numbers were announced as it seems that lower oil prices are harming energy producers but is good news for consumers as they have more money in their pockets to spend in the high street (or shopping mall)  There was a sharp reaction for the Dow Jones and S&P indices initially on the announcement but profit taking pared back a lot of the gains later in the session and the daily charts seem to have resumed their bearish stance – and this morning’s S&P 500 futures are slightly down as the European market is opening.

As has been usual this week, trader’s focus has been on the crude oil market and the falling price. The U.S. WTI Crude price staged a small rally yesterday early in the session but then resumed it’s now normal trajectory – this fall in value started in earnest around the middle of June when the price was $107 and yesterday it fell through the significant $60 level and is still trading down at $59.20 as I write this.  The Russians have also said that they’re not cutting production either – the Saudis have the same stance at the moment – so it’s now looking like a game of high-stakes poker, who’s going to fold first ? UK Brent Oil is now getting near the level where it’s uneconomical to drill for North Sea Crude so the Scots must be quite pleased they didn’t go for independence as a lot of the economic sums were based on $70-$80 per barrel.

Market Close Thursday 11th December 2014:   Dow Jones 30  +63.19 @ 17,596.34  S&P 500  +9.19 @ 2,035.35  NASDAQ  +24.14 @ 4,708.16  FTSE 100  -38.34 @ 6,461.70  UK AIM  -5.31 @ 698.05  DAX 30  +62.80 @ 9,862.53  CAC 40  -2.05 @ 4,225.86  IBEX  +34.90 @ 10,431.80   Nikkei 225 (Today)  +114.18 @ 17,371.58  Hang Seng (currently)  -6.60  @ 23,305.94

11:30am  ~  Not much chance for any trading this morning – been in and out of the house but may have a chance to look after lunch.

15:20pm  ~  Been out on errands and now off for a quick session of Clay Pigeon shooting so no trading to report for today.

08:20am ~  A relatively lazy start for me today after getting early in this morning, I have a meeting with builders in a minute and then the rest of the morning will be spent here in the study catching up on emails and doing some chart watching.

On the markets yesterday the bears seem to be in charge now after OPEC downgraded their prediction for Crude Oil prices in 2015 and this sparked a sell-off in U.S. equities and has continued through the night in Asia.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 280 points which is it’s largest one-session loss for two months, ending at 17,544 with no support in sight until the 17, 340 level.  The wider S&P 500 index also suffered similiar losses and came to a rest at a previous resistance level around 2025.

With OPEC’s announcement it was no real surprise that the Crude Oil market moved southwards yesterday and the Saudis also made it clear they were not interested in supporting the price as their oil minister Ali Al Naimi said that “prices will correct themselves” – a sure sign that they are more worried about their market share than absolute values. The U.S. WTI Crude lost over $2 by yesterday evening to finish at $61.22 after OPEC’s announcement together with the weekly stock report that showed U.S. stockpiles had an unexpected rise of 1.5 million barrels.

With equity markets in decline you would expect a move to safety with traders favouring Gold investments but with tumbling oil prices there is also the threat of deflation and Gold seems to have formed a resistance level at $1238 which so far this morning it is obeying.

Market Close Wednesday 10th December 2014:   Dow Jones 30  -268.05 @ 17,533.15  S&P 500  -33.68 @ 2,026.14  NASDAQ  -69.80 @ 4,224.87  FTSE 100  -29.43 @ 6,500.04  UK AIM  -3.50 @ 703.36  DAX 30  +6.02 @ 9,799.73  CAC 40  -36.03 @ 4,227.91  IBEX  -64.70 @ 10,396.90   Nikkei 225 (Today)  -155.18 @ 17,257.40  Hang Seng (currently)  -172.86  @ 23,351.66

08:25am  ~  There’s a possible ‘short’ trade setting up on my Gold chart at the moment – it will trigger if the price goes below 12217 so I shall set an order as I have to go out in a minute.

09:30am  ~  Just got back indoors and seen that the above trendFX trade is ‘live’ — I have a stop loss of 35 pips and don’t forget that if you’re also trading this particular position this morning, you would be a very successful trader if you just took 35 pips out of each trade (1:1 profit ratio on this trade) and had just one trade per day – even 15 or 20 pips is more than enough.

10:20am  ~  There’s a possible UTB trade setting up in the opposite direction to the position I’m in at the moment so I shall close my current ‘short’ trade if the UTB triggers. This is not a  way of trading that I would usually recommend but the UTB pattern is so reliable it makes economic sense.

10:40am  ~  I am out of my 1st Gold trade and I am now in the above mentioned ‘long’ UTB trade – the original Gold trade has come out at +12 pips.

11:15am  ~  This ‘long’ Gold position is currently at +13 pips and the stop loss is 23 pips.

13:15pm  ~  My Gold chart is starting to become quite volatile and we’re getting close to the U.S. trading session open and some economic announcement so I have come out of my trade with a +38 pip profit.

15:05pm  ~ No more trading for the day – just been invited to play tennis at a friend’s house in Walberswick.

07:40am  ~   A nice lazy day around the house for me today so I will report back if I have any trades.

Asian markets overnight were broadly down amid continuing worries over global economic woes with Greece coming once again to the forefront amid an uncertain political future but European equities are expected to open slightly up after U.S. shares staged a small rally at the end of their session last night. Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices have formed reversal candles on the daily charts yesterday so there maybe a move upwards in the next few days although there is a mood for profit-taking from traders I have spoken to this week so new highs may come with a struggle in the lead up to the end of the year.

Oil futures staged a small rebound yesterday during a very volatile trading session after news that U.S. shale producers were reported to be cutting production to prop up values and the U.S. WTI Crude price ended up 26 cents at $63.22 but the overnight Asian session has seen a resumption in the bearish mood as the price once more heads towards the $62.30 support level – it is currently at $62.90 as I write this.

With a general mood of uncertainty in world equity markets it’s no surprise that traders are once again thinking about Gold as a safe-haven investment, it rose nearly $28 to finish at $1231.10 last night and is still rising early this morning.

Market Close Tuesday 9th December 2014:   Dow Jones 30  -51.28 @ 17,801.20  S&P 500  -0.49 @ 2,059.82  NASDAQ  +16.33 @ 4,294.67  FTSE 100  -142.68 @ 6,529.47  UK AIM  -6.49 @ 706.86  DAX 30  -221.28 @ 9,793.81  CAC 40  -111.54 @ 4,263.94  IBEX  -343.60 @ 10,461.60   Nikkei 225 (Today)  -400.80 @ 17,412.58  Hang Seng (currently)  +52.49  @ 23,538.52

08:50am ~  A neighbour has just popped round for a cycle ride so I’m off out for an hour or so.

10:05am  ~  Just got back and I can see a possible trendFX ‘short’ trade on my Gold chart.

10:40am  ~  I am now in that Gold position – my stop loss is 21 pips.

12:15pm  ~  I have just come out of my Gold trade, I’m off out for lunch with 2 friends and there’s been no real excitement on the chart plus I’ll be unable to watch the chart during the U.S. session open. My score has come in at +25 pips.

15:35pm  ~  Just returned from an extremely long lunch at the Lord Nelson – I shall get back to my charts at 5 o’clock and see if there’s any “Trade With A Day Job” opportunities on the S&P 500 index.

19:20pm  ~  The blonde has informed me that we’re off out in 10 minutes so I’m closing off my S&P 500 chart for the evening – nothing to report.

08:00am  ~  I’ve got meetings here at home for most of the day so I shall also be chart watching from time to time as well.

As you can see from the figures below there’s a sea of red numbers from Monday’s trading session and also the overnight Asian session – and this has been caused mainly by the falling crude oil price. Energy companies are amongst the most valuable in the world and their share prices are plummeting  day by day and in time will probably lead to some kind of consolidation in the sector – there is already talk of British oil company BP being taking over. Yesterday the boss of Kuwait’s national oil company predicted that the price of crude is going to stay below $65 a barrel for the next six months due to global oversupply and to prove the point the markets responded by falling over $2 to $63.

Equity markets in the U.S. seem to have hit a ceiling, the S&P500 has tried and failed a few times over the last few weeks to get over the 2080 level although the narrower Dow Jones Industrial Average’s chart does look in better shape for a continuation of the year-end rally, the 18,000 level could well be reached before hedge funds and pension funds start booking profits at the end of the year.

Gold is currently in a sideways move on the daily chart and seems unable to stray very far from the $1200 level although the weekly and monthly charts gives clues that a move upwards maybe on the cards going into next year.

Market Close Monday 8th December 2014:   Dow Jones 30  -106.31 @ 17,852.58  S&P 500  -15.06 @ 2,060.31  NASDAQ  -33.24 @ 4,278.34  FTSE 100  -70.69 @ 6,672.15  UK AIM  -0.78 @ 713.35  DAX 30  -72.13 @ 10,014.99  CAC 40  -44.00 @ 4,375.48  IBEX  -95.50 @ 10,805.20   Nikkei 225 (Today)  -122.26 @ 17,813.38  Hang Seng (currently)  -572.52  @ 23,475.13

08:15am  ~  There’s a UTB pattern on my U.S. WTI Crude Oil chart for a ‘long’ trade so I’m just waiting for the price to come down so I can get in at a decent price, the trigger level was 62:75 and it’s currently at 62:83.

08:30am  ~  I’m in a ‘long’ position on my WTI chart, I got in at $62:74 plus a 5 pip spread. Stop loss has come out at 35 pips.

09:45am  ~  The Crude oil market is staging a bounce this morning due to news out that U.S. shale producers are cutting back on investment due to the low oil price so my ‘long’ WTI trade is still doing ok, it’s currently standing at +40 pips – the next point it should reach is $63:80.  Less investment will mean lower production which in turn means a higher price per barrel.

11:40am ~  The WTI price has stalled for the time being after reaching just over $64 and retreating down so I’ve now come out of my position as I’m very happy with the result – the trade score was +95 pips.

12:10pm  ~  There’s another UTB pattern setting up on the WTI chart – this time it’s a ‘short’ opportunity and if the price goes below $63.73 it will trigger a trade. 12:30pm  ~  I am now in that ‘short’ position on my WTI Crude chart – the stop loss is 22 pips.

13:40pm  ~  Another UTB ‘short’ trade has been triggered on Brent Oil but taking it would really just be duplicating the trade I’m already in, the two charts move largely in tandem.

14:40pm  ~  I have a meeting with builders up the road in 5 minutes so I have closed off my 2nd WTI trade, the U.S. markets are just getting going so can be unpredictable and you really need to keep an eye on any open positions at this time of day.  Happy with the result though +106 pips

18:50pm  ~  Having a rare quiet night in and I can see a possible “Trade With A Day Job” trade setting up on the S&P 500.

19:10pm  ~  In a ‘long’ trade on the S&P with a 22 pip stop loss.

20:00pm  ~  My earlier trade was stopped out but I am now in another ‘long’ position on the same chart using an “extra” strategy. Stop loss this time 24 pips.

21:05pm  ~  A full trading session tonight as I was at home relaxing and I’ve ended up with a +60 pips profit on this 2nd trade giving me +38 pips for the TWADJ and +239 for the day.

08:25am  ~ Arrived back in the UK late last night and I’m having a lazy day here catching up on emails from new traders that have come in over the past 3 days. If I have any trades I will report back with details later on.

Although there was fairly good news from the U.S. jobs data on Friday, indices here in Europe are going to have a muted opening after disappointing Chinese trade data overnight showing lower exports and a fall in importation of raw materials plus numbers hinting that the Japanese economic problems are more severe than first thought. Problems are not just confined to Asia as there are also bearish signs from the Eurozone as a couple of ECB officials said the central bank is very likely to embark on a broad based asset purchase programme in the first few months of the new year – this news gave the EUR/USD currency pair a new low at 1.2289.

The Crude Oil markets are still providing good trading opportunities as OPEC and the U.S. do not look like they are willing to drop production to prop prices up and Friday’s trading session saw WTI Crude drop just over a dollar to end the day at $65.74 and this morning it is trading slightly below this level at $65.01.  As expected with more record highs for U.S. equities, Gold is once again suffering and it dropped again below the important $1200 level on Friday and ended last week at $1190.70 but has staged a slight bounce this morning to $1195.

Market Close Friday 5th December 2014:   Dow Jones 30  +58.69 @ 17,958.79  S&P 500  +3.45 @ 2,075.37  NASDAQ  -0.36 @ 4,311.57  FTSE 100  +63.47 @ 6,742.84  UK AIM  +3.90 @ 714.13  DAX 30  +235.77 @ 10,087.12  CAC 40  +95.59 @ 4,419.49  IBEX  +280.80 @ 10,900.70   Nikkei 225 (Today)  +15.19 @ 17,935.64  Hang Seng (currently)  +64.71  @ 24,067.35

09:10am  ~  Typically for a Monday morning, there’s not much happening on my collection of favourite charts on first glance so I am off for a bracing cycle ride through Walberswick then down to Westleton.  Should be back in a few hours.

12:25pm  ~  I have only just got back here after the cycle ride as I had two punctures and a stop-off at a friend’s house on the way round. I shall switch on my charts soon after a quick lunch.

13:15pm  ~  There seems to be a UTB pattern setting up on my German Dax 30 chart.

14:35pm  ~  The Dax UTB has triggered although I will have to be careful as the U.S. market has just opened and Monday’s can be volatile after the weekend break. The stop loss is only 15 pips.

16:30pm  ~  The above position on my Dax chart did not turn out as expected and I have just had the trade stopped out at -15 pips.

16:50pm  ~  Going to watch my S&P 500 chart now to see if there are any ‘Trade With A Day Job’ opportunities – the strategy kicks off in 5 minutes.

17:15pm  ~  I have just got into a ‘short’ position using one of the ‘extra’ set-ups from the TWADJ system.  My stop loss is a heady 16 pips.

17:50pm  ~  Still in my trade (+49 pips so far)  - the S&P is falling well.

18:25pm  ~ My position is currently at +102 pips.

19:05pm  ~  We are off out for the evening in a short while so I’ve closed my trade off now so I can get ready.  it has finished at +177 pips.