08:05am CET (7:05am UK)  ~  I have an interesting cycle ride coming up in the next hour – my neighbour has organised a ride around the bay to Punta Sabater for a late breakfast for 15 of us – then back here for some chart watching and emailing/Skype chats upto lunchtime.

Markets started well yesterday before U.S. trading began but the European late afternoon session saw falls due to unexpectedly pessimistic American CPI numbers together with terrorist activities in the Parliament building in Ottawa. Traders are now speculating whether the last few days of bullish momentum off the lows were just short term bargain-hunting so today’s market activity will give everyone a clue as to where the market is going in the run-up to the end of the month.

Crude oil suffered more drops yesterday as inventory numbers in the U.S. showed an increase in stock following subdued demand – WTI Crude dropped down to $80:34 at the end of the session and overnight touched the support level at $80 although it has recovered slightly in the past few hours. In the UK, Brent Oil also fell on news of U.S. stock levels and is now heading back towards last week’s low of $82.50 so watch out for bearish opportunities today.

Market Close Wednesday 22nd Oct. 2014:   Dow Jones 30  -153.49 @ 16,461.32  S&P 500  -14.17 @ 1,927.11  NASDAQ  -21.81 @ 3,949.59  FTSE 100  +27.40 @ 6,399.73  DAX 30  +53.18 @ 8,940.14  CAC 40  +23.85 @ 4,105.09  IBEX  +97.800 @ 10,249.90

11:40am CET  ~  Back from my ride so some emailing/Skype calls here in the study now together with occasional chart watching, I’ll report back if I get into any trades.

11:45am  ~ As soon as I’ve glanced at my charts I can see a possible ‘short’ trade on my Gold chart – it’s from the trendFX collection of strategies — more soon.

12:00 Midday  ~  The Gold price has moved down sufficiently for me to enter a ‘short’ position with a 25 pip stop loss. It is a strategy 3 set-up from the trendFX manual.

13:20pm  ~  There seems to be another trendFX opportunity setting up on Brent Crude chart, a move above 85.05 will trigger a ‘long’ trade.

13:50pm  ~  I am in the Brent Crude trade, the price seems to moving north quite quickly.  Currently still in my Gold position, its doing ok so far.

15:20pm  ~  I am still in the Gold trade but I’ve come out of the Brent Oil position – the score is +67 pips.

16:45pm  ~  Have just exited the Gold trade as the bargain hunters have briefly moved in, I have managed +101 pips.  Going outside now to help the builders for a while.

19:05pm  ~  Back inside now and going to watch my S&P500 chart for a couple of hours to see if there’s any “Trade With A Day Job” set-ups.

19:30pm  ~  Just entered a ‘long’ position on the S&P chart, my stop loss is 19 pips.

20:35pm  ~  Happy with the progress of my “Trade With A Day Job” position so I closed it off a few minutes ago. The score came in at +70 pips.

Daily Target  + 20 pips

Pips Achieved  +238 pips.

07:50am CET (06:50 UK time)  ~  Nice relaxing day for me here at home, loads of emails to catch-up on plus some chart watching from time to time. Rumours of some sailing this afternoon abounded last night as well.

You cannot have failed to notice that the bearish trend that started at the middle of September seems to have come to an end for the time being, the bounce that the S&P 500 has encountered has come back by over 50% and yesterday saw another good day for the bulls. There were two main drivers for the markets during yesterday’s session, firstly encouraging Chinese industrial production plus GDP figures came in better than the market expected and there was also news that the European Central Bank has signalled they are to begin buying corporate bonds in the secondary market suggesting that they are unwilling to stand by and watch the EU fall into deflation and risk recession again. Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rallied just over 2% on this news just slightly more than the main U.S. indices.

Crude oil values were buoyed on optimistic Chinese economic news with the hope of renewed demand coupled with bargain basement prices,  WTI Crude rising again after bouncing off the $80 level last Thursday and was up nearly 70 cents to $82:54. The UK Brent Crude is also rallying upwards from its bounce last week and is currently sitting at $86:25 as I write this. With the upcoming Hindu festival of Diwali and delayed interest rate rise in the U.S. the Gold price is steadily rising from its low of $1183 at the beginning of the month and gained nearly $3 during yesterday’s session to finish at $1249.30 – watch out for some bearish trading opportunities today though as there was a good reversal candle formed on the daily chart and there maybe some profit taking today.

Market Close Tuesday 21st Oct. 2014:   Dow Jones 30  +215.14 @ 16,614.81  S&P 500  +37.27 @ 1,941.28  NASDAQ  +101.31 @ 3,971.39  FTSE 100  +105.26 @ 6,372.33  DAX 30  +169.20 @ 8,886.96  CAC 40  +90.00 @ 4,081.24  IBEX  +236.90 @ 10,152.10

13:05pm (CET)  ~  There’s been a couple of close shaves with regard to UTB opportunities over the last few hours but I am finally in a ‘long’ position on my Gold chart – the stop loss is a whopping 11 pips….

17:30pm  ~  Having real trouble with my broadband here this afternoon, the signal is weak so I have been unable to update this page regularly, it’s even slower than it normally is. Anyway –  I closed off my Gold trade off just before the U.S. trading session open as the price was starting to get volatile and coming up against a resistance level. I managed to come away with +23 pips.

22:45pm  ~  Still having inconsistent internet connection hence a late update to this diary – I have one trade to report, a “Trade With A Day Job” short position on the S&P 500 that ended with a 20 pip profit. All over before 8:30pm

Daily Target  +20 pips

Pips Achieved  +43 pips

07:35am  ~  Last day in the UK, I shall be flying back to Majorca later this afternoon but I will be doing some emails and chart watching this morning – I also have 2 Skype calls as well.

Overnight news from China regarding its GDP figures should keep indices in the positive this morning, the numbers were down on last month but the fall was not as big a many commentators had expected. In the U.S. last night, the three main indices finished in positive territory so keeping up the recovery after last week’s large correction and good corporate news was the main driver for this bullish sentiment although there’s not much economic news to give traders any direction today so a nice, gentle trading session looks favourite.

The Crude Oil price is still in a general downtrend with yesterday’s session producing a bearish reversal candle after it ended 50 cents down at $81.85.  There was a bounce off  the important $80 level late last week and I would expect the price to revisit that level in the next few days as low demand and plentiful supplied keeping any bullish thoughts far from trader’s minds. As the U.S. Federal Reserve has hinted at a delayed rate hike until later next year, Gold investors have renewed their buying interest sending the precious metal up by $8 yesterday to $1246.70 and this morning is very close again to the significant $1250 resistance level, watch out for bearish trading opportunities once the European market opens in the next hour.

Market Close Monday 20th Oct. 2014:   Dow Jones 30  +19.26 @ 16,399.67  S&P 500  +17.25 @ 1,904.01  NASDAQ  +54.61 @ 3,870.08  FTSE 100  -43.22 @ 6,267.07  DAX 30  -132.51 @ 8,717.76  CAC 40  -41.94 @ 3,991.24  IBEX  -41.60 @ 9,615.20

09:30am  ~  Just spotted what may turn out to be a potential ‘long’ trade on my S&P 500 chart – the price will have to rise above 19065 to trigger an entry.  I am off for a quick cycle ride in the next 10 minutes so I’ll set an entry order and stop loss in case the price rises in the next hour.

10:55am  ~  Just got back to see that the S&P trade has triggered – the stop loss is 39 pips.

11:35am  ~  Happy with the trade profit so I’ve just come out of my S&P position at 19174 giving me +105 pips, it was a trendFX strategy 3 set-up.  Off to the airport in 30 mins.

19:20pm (CET)  ~  Arrived here (Puerto Pollensa) half an hour ago and I’ve just turned on this laptop to Skype a friend and I can see a ‘long’ trade setting up on my S&P500 chart (trendFX again, this time strategy 1)

19:35pm  ~  I am in the trade but going to set up stop loss and take profit orders as we off out to a neighbours house for the rest of the evening. The stop loss is 26 pips and I’ll go for a round 50 pips profit target.

01:20am Wednesday  ~  Just got in and seen that my earlier S&P 500 trade managed its 50 pip target

Daily Target  +20 pips

Pips Achieved +155 pips

08:35am  ~  Still in the UK unexpectedly with a few things to sort out so no trading for me today.

So good news trumped bad for once on Friday with the Ebola epidemic, European slowdown and Chinese economy woes beaten by optimistic consumer confidence numbers in the U.S. together with a good start to the corporate earnings season gave the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices a boost of over 1% apiece by the close of play on the last day of the trading week. On the back of this rebound in U.S. markets, Asian indices were in a bullish mood last night as the east started their trading week with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index shot up by 3.6% which was its biggest daily rise since before the summer and the Chinese Hang Seng was slightly behind with a jump of +0.5%. There was not such good news here in Europe though with confirmation that inflation dropped 0.3% giving extra weight to fears of deflation in the EU and this was the main cause of the EUR/USD currency pair dropping nearly 50 pips at the close of last week, down to 1.2760 and it is still falling this morning as it is currently sitting at 1.2749 as I write this.

Crude oil is still under pressure which has prompted the larger two OPEC nations of Saudia Arabia and Kuwait to contemplate a new scheme of cutting production after the mootedprice war did not really do them much good. WTI Crude ended virtually unchanged on Friday with a nice reversal candle on the daily chart so any move down below $82.40 in the next few days will probably signal more falls – it is currently sitting at $83.27.

Market Close Friday 17th Oct. 2014:   Dow Jones 30  +263.17 @ 16,380.41  S&P 500  +24.00 @ 1,886.76  NASDAQ  +50.09 @ 3,815.47  FTSE 100  +114.38 @ 6,310.29  DAX 30  +267.37 @ 8,850.27  CAC 40  +114.56 @ 4,033.18  IBEX  +287.10 @ 9,656.80

09:40am CET (8:40 UK)  ~  A late start for me today after getting back home at 4am this morning and no trading for me today as I have to be back in the UK for a few days, so I am off to Palma airport in a couple of hours.

You cannot have failed to notice that the markets have been in free-fall this week but I can sense that the worse maybe over for the time being as it has the feeling of a ‘correction’ – the S&P 500 has fallen from its high of 2,022.70 on the 19th of September to the low on Wednesday at 1819.10, this is a drop of almost dead on 10% so we should see the bargain hunters appearing – and this will give us a true perspective on just how market participants see the current world economy at the moment.  Many traders and larger investors have a feeling that the market is overvalued and this price reversal in the U.S. has been on the cards for a while and because of this, the correction has been larger than normal, but it does give everyone a chance to regroup and sort out their holdings so when the majority of market players perceive that the correction has been large enough (10% is perceived to be a ‘normal’ big correction) they will go back into the market and start buying again – what we call ‘bargain-hunters’

The Fed’s Bond buyer programme was supposed to end at the end of this month but Federal Reserve member James Bullard has come and said that it should be delayed to halt a fall in inflation and this comment together with fairly optimistic U.S. data will help the markets recover slightly.  The late recovery of the stock market yesterday also helped the WTI Crude price which recovered from the extended bearish trend slightly and ended $2 up at just over $83.07 and as expected the rise in the value of Gold was halted temporarily during yesterday’s session as traders moved their money over to equities – it ended the day almost $3 in the red at $1239. Interestingly Gold hit a long term support/resistance level yesterday at $1245 so there maybe more falls in the short term.

Market Close Thursday 16th Oct. 2014:   Dow Jones 30  -24.50 @ 16,117.24  S&P 500  +0.27 @ 1,862.76  NASDAQ  -20.69 @ 3,765.28  FTSE 100  -15.73 @ 6,195.91  DAX 30  +10.95 @ 8,582.90  CAC 40  -21.10 @ 3,918.62  IBEX  -168.80 @ 9,669.70

07:50 CET (6:50 UK)  ~  Up early this morning to blue skies and 23 degrees and looking forward to some chart watching, emailing and Skype calls here at home today plus a cycle ride with a group of neighbours up to Cap de Formentor this afternoon.

Markets fell by more than expected yesterday after disappointing retail sales numbers out of the U.S. at lunchtime. The initial speed of the fall seemed to spook traders and a wave of concerted selling took over until later in the evening when bargain hunters came in with the view that it all had been a tad overdone. Nevertheless, the percentage drop hit over 2% at one stage with U.S. indices before rising slightly towards the end of the session but the gains for the past 8 months have all been wiped out now on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.  The Ebola epidemic is also weighing heavily in the U.S. as no real solution to this potential world health threat has been found and there does not seem to be anybody wanting to take a lead and this sentiment is spreading across other markets, the Asian session was also subdued overnight.

Crude oil is also in the news at the moment as the slide in values is continuing, WTI Crude fell $1.22 yesterday reaching a new 2-year low at $81.10 and traders seem to be expecting a floor price of around $75.00.  Weaker demand coupled with continued over supply is partly to blame although OPEC’s cut in their prices has further aggravated the situation. In The UK, Brent Crude is also at a new recent low, the price is currently sitting at $82:65 as I write this, a level not seen since the end of 2010.  Oil traders in London are talking of a move to $80 in the near future as weak global demand carries on unabated. As you would expect, with turmoil in the equity markets yesterday, Gold benefited to a moderate degree, it ended the day $8 up at $1241 and is now at a point on the daily chart where the bearish trend seems to be ending, the next week or so will clear this conundrum up.

Market Close Wednesday 15th Oct. 2014:  Dow Jones 30  -173.45 @ 16,141.74  S&P 500  -15.21 @ 1,862.29  NASDAQ  -24.48 @ 3,785.97  FTSE 100  -181.04 @ 6,211.64  DAX 30  -216.86 @ 8,571.95  CAC 40  -148.53 @ 3,939.72  IBEX -366.40 @ 9,838.50

09:05am  ~  Just come inside to have a quick look at some charts – and nothing much happening at the moment so will look again in an hour or so.

10:35am  ~  it looks as thought there maybe a UTB pattern setting up on my FTSE 100 and Dax 30 charts, I’ll have another look in 20 minutes.

11:00am  ~  I am concentrating on the FTSE 100 and if the price drops below 6215 I shall get into a ‘short’ position.  If the FTSE moves down the Dax will probably do the same so not much point in taking a trade in the German index as well, I will only be duplicating the trade.

11:10am  ~  Now in the UTB ‘short’ with a 31 pip stop loss, the price is coming down quite briskly at the moment.

11:35am  ~  The markets are still going south, my FTSE position is currently at +50 pips.

12:30pm  ~  The price is taking a breather at the moment and my position is at +112 so far.

12:45pm  ~  We’re off for a quick lunch so I’ve closed my trade as I am happy with the +142 pip profit.

Daily Target  +20 pips

Pips Achieved  +142 pips

08:25am CET (7:25am UK)  ~ I’m having a nice relaxing day at home so I may do some chart watching on and off but first I’m off for a cycle ride out west on the Pollenca road.  I try to do at least 15 miles a day but that’s only an hour’s ride so 20-25 mile is much more useful for somebody of my age (50+)

The markets yesterday mostly had a neutral day after mixed economic news and the London FTSE 100 hit it’s near term support level at 6300 before bouncing back. Meanwhile in the U.S. the S&P 500 index is still below the major support at 1900 (currently at 1883 this morning on the futures market) and together with the narrower Dow Jones Industrial Average initially started the day well on optimistic earnings data which brought out some bargain hunters but by the end of the session the enthusiasm had died down somewhat after Crude Oil prices headed south which affected energy shares. The Dow Jones almost hit an August support level around 16,270 during the last hour of trading so there maybe a bullish reaction to that this morning.  Overnight, the Asian markets have shown cautious optimism although there is still a marked reluctance to reverse the bearish trend due to worries about the economy in the area together with the looming ebola epidemic.

Crude oil is still firmly in a bearish mood with U.S. WTI Crude falling another $2.70 yesterday to $82.28 and there does not seem to be much support in the near future, the next level for a rest is at $77, quite a way off yet. News that the French-based International Energy Agency moved their estimates for next year’s rise in oil consumption by a quarter of a million barrels a day did not help values either.

Market Close Tuesday 14th Oct. 2014:  Dow Jones 30  -5.88 @ 16,315.19  S&P 500  +2.96 @ 1,877.70  NASDAQ  +2.46 @ 3810.45  FTSE 100  +26.44 @ 6,392.68  DAX 30  +12.78 @ 8,825.21  CAC 40  +9.55 @ 4,088.25  IBEX +17.60 @ 10,204.90

10:10am  ~  Back home now so I’m going to do some emailing and chart watching every 30 minutes or so.

10:35am  ~  There looks as though there is a ‘short’ trade setting up on the German Dax 30 chart — a trendFX opportunity

10:55am  ~  The Dax price has dropped sufficiently to trigger a ‘short’ for me, so I am in the market with a 36 pip stop loss.

14:25pm  ~  The pre-market in the U.S. is just about to get going so I am staying in the trade but have brought my stop loss up to break even to protect the profit I already have.

14:55pm  (CET)  ~  We quite fancy going out for a late lunch so I’ve just closed off my Dax trade, the price has come down quite well, in tandem with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures and I’ve come away with a +128 pip profit.

16:30pm  ~  Back from lunch and just looked at the U.S. market charts, they are falling quite fast so there will be some good opportunities in the next few hours but I’m happy with my score for the day so I’ll be back in front of my charting platform tomorrow.

Daily Target  +20 pips

Pips Achieved  +128 pips

07:30am CET (6:30 UK time)  ~  We got back here late last night after a delayed flight so no trading to report for this week yet although I shall be here in the study this morning catching up on emails and Skype calls and doing some chart watching at the same time.  I also have a trip over to Palma airport before lunch to take our weekend guests to catch their flight back to the UK but first it’s a cycle ride along the bay as the morning has started warm – clear skies and 17 degrees at the moment.

The fall in equities is continuing with the U.S. Dow Jones 30 index hitting it’s long term support level a 16300 yesterday although there has been a slight bounce in the futures price during the overnight Asian session. The Tech-Heavy Nasdaq and wider S&P 500 indices also dropped by around 1.6% apiece and the culprit for this pessimism is still being touted as the African Ebola crisis together with last week’s Fed comments regarding the general slowdown of the world economy, Asia and Europe in particular.  Overnight, Japan’s Nikkei Average fell over 2% by the close partly caused by the U.S. market woes and also the strength of the Yen is hurting exporters at the moment.

Gold is showing a good example of support/resistance trading as it climbs from the long term support line at $1180 – this level stretches back over a year and illustrates just how well this type of trading works, good to look at if you are new to the markets.  Crude Oil values are yet again under pressure as Iran has now joined other OPEC producers in announcing they’re going to sell Crude at a discount to China and India. This put pressure on WTI Crude prices and the market closed down by 50 cents to just under $85:00 and it briefly touched the 2012 support level at $84 during yesterday’s session before bouncing up after technical traders stepped in to take advantage of this 2-year low.

Market Close Monday 13th Oct. 2014:  Dow Jones 30  -223.03 @ 16,321.07  S&P 500  -62.86 @ 1,874.74  NASDAQ  -62.86 @ 3808.00  FTSE 100  +26.27 @ 6,366.24  DAX 30  +23.62 @ 8,812.43  CAC 40  +4.99 @ 4,078.70  IBEX +36.80 @ 10,187.30

9:40am  ~  Back from my cycle ride so I’m going to settle down in the study now for a few hours to do emails etc plus some chart watching.

10:10am  ~  Nothing great happening on the charts apart from a potential ‘short’ on the EUR/USD chart. Compared with the instruments I usually trade, this forex pair does not have a great profit potential on short term day trading but if it does trigger I will still take the position as there still maybe 15-20 pips in the trade.

 10:25am  ~  I’m now in a ‘short’ on the EUR/USD chart with a 19 pip stop loss – it is a trendFX strategy 3 set-up.

11:30am  ~  Trade still doing ok but will close it off soon as I am taking Charles + girlfriend to Palma Airport.

12:45pm CET  ~ The position has been closed off at 1.2647 giving a small profit of +41 pips.

18:10pm  ~  Just got back home but friends for dinner so unfortunately no more chart watching or trading today.

Daily Target  +20 pips

Pips Achieved  +41 pips

22:35pm  ~  Still in Minorca after arriving here on Friday, will be back tomorrow night (Monday)

08:30am CET (07:30 UK)  ~  No trading for me today, after a late start we are off to Mahon for the day – a short boat ride from Palma harbour – taking our guests for a day out.

Here in Europe equities have opened sharply down after a large sell-off in the U.S. last night – there seems to be pessimism across the board after the Federal Reserve held off their rates rise due to fears for the economy. Asian traders also have bearish outlook on the world economy as the Japanese Nikkei index fell for the fourth session in the row, a drop of over 1% last night and 2.7% down for the week.  It’s coming up for earning season in America so that will finally put to rest rumours regarding the overall health of the world’s largest economy – hopefully.  The Dow Jones fell nearly 2% yesterday and it still has a way to go down before it hits the next support level at 16,330 although the wider S&P 500 index is still hovering around the near term support at 1925 after a slip of 2.07% by the end of yesterday’s session.

With worries for the overall global economy together with growing Crude Oil supplies it was no surprise that WTI Crude price fell to $84.35 yesterday, the lowest level for over 2 years and OPEC’s upcoming price war will put further pressure on values – a good sign for UK motorists who have been paying too much for petrol for too long.  The fears and rumours over the world economy together with falling equities gave a boost to Gold prices yesterday, it rose over $2 by last night to $1223.5 although there is now a bearish reversal candle on my Gold chart for a move down towards the big support at $1182 if we see the price fall below $1218 in the next few days.

Market Close Thursday 9th Oct. 2014:  Dow Jones 30  -334.97 @ 16,659.25  S&P 500  -40.68 @ 1,928.21  NASDAQ  -71.80 @ 3969.32  FTSE 100  -50.39 @ 6,431.85  DAX 30  +9.69 @ 9,005.02  CAC 40  -26.67 @ 4,141.45  IBEX -65.30 @ 10,273.70