08:55am (7:55 UK Time)  ~  Bit of a late start for me this morning  after a delayed journey out here to Majorca yesterday afternoon/evening.  Not much planned for the rest of the day apart from some emailing and chart watching this morning and a supermarket trip later for provisions.

Traders will no doubt be concentrating on Europe today after news yesterday that Italy has fallen into recession and the Eurozone’s strongest economy (Germany) had factory orders drop by the greatest amount since 2011 and exports to other Eurozone countries falling heavily, stirring up concerns that the EU is slipping into economic problems.  News from Russia that President Putin is retaliating to economic sanctions by banning certain imports from the Eurozone is not going to help the situation.  Rate announcements today by the Bank Of England and European Central Bank will concentrate traders minds on their charts this morning although no real surprises are expected but interest will fall on the voting on interest rates rather than the outcome.

The main U.S. markets dropped to their lowest levels during intraday trading yesterday since May but did rebound later in the day and the S&P500 has formed a reversal candle on the daily chart so any move above 1930 today may trigger a bullish move upwards to the 1950 level which has acted as support previously.  The Dow Jones hit a significant support early in yesterday’s session at 16,340.

Gold eventually succumbed to safe haven buying pressure due to mounting problems in Ukraine and Gaza/Israel and advanced over $13 by the end of trading yesterday to $1305.20.  This move up does seem to have confirmed the support at $1280, so watch out for that level in the next week or so.

Market Close Wednesday 6th Aug. 2014:  Dow Jones 30  +13.87 @ 16,443.34  S&P 500  +0.03 @ 1,920.24  FTSE 100  -46.32 @ 6,636.13  DAX 30  -59.30 @ 9,130.04  CAC 40  -25.74 @ 4,207.14

11:35am  ~  Not much happening on my charts so I’m out now for a few hours to do some errands and have some lunch.

15:10pm  ~  Back now so going to watch my charts for a while – nothing yet but it is the U.S. session open so I’ll wait for it to settle down first.

16:30pm  ~  I am now in a ‘short’ S&P 500 position using my UTB pattern – the stop loss is 44 pips.

17:55pm  ~  Just had some friends arrived so I’m out of my S&P trade. It has come ahead by 109 pips.

08:40am  ~  A late start for me this morning after getting back at 2am but I’m ready for a cycle ride then back here for some emailing, Skype chats with new traders and chart watching up until lunchtime.. We are flying out to Majorca this afternoon for the rest of August.

As I was watching my (short) position on the S&P500 last night, the index experienced a dramatic fall which at first glance could not be reasonably explained but I now know that world markets generally reacted to news of the Russian Army amassing upto 20,000 troops on the Ukrainian border and more specifically comments by the Polish Foreign Minister who was speculating that this move is really a prelude to a full invasion.  In reality, it’s not known whether this is more muscle flexing by President Putin as a retaliation for wider sanctions against his country or whether he is really serious about marching in, so diplomatic efforts over the next few days will no doubt reveal the underlying story.  On a technical perspective, the Dow Jones index hit a historic support level around 16,365 during yesterday’s trading session so there maybe a move upwards later today although the S&P 500 has got clear sky at the moment down to the 1900 level.

Across at the Oil markets, WTI Crude is now at its lowest level since March and perceived declining demand in the U.S. has once again put pressure on the value although with a few reversal candles being formed on the daily chart we may see a rebound as bargain hunters enter the fray.  Gold has not really enjoyed any type of popularity with all the geo-political problems at the moment, the rise in the value of the U.S. Dollar has largely held prices in check. There has been a rebound this morning but there is a support level at $1275 which may draw the value down in the next few days.

Market Close Tuesday 5th Aug. 2014:  Dow Jones 30  -139.81 @ 16,429.47  S&P 500  -18.78 @ 1,920.21  FTSE 100  +4.96 @ 6,682.48  DAX 30  +35.60 @ 9,189.74  CAC 40  +15.66 @ 4,232.88

10:05am  ~  Back home after a wet ride up the coast – I shall do some chart watching while I’m here in the study doing emails and Skype calls.

10:25am  ~  It looks as though there is a UTB pattern setting up on my Gold chart for a move down.

10:40am  ~  I am now in a ‘short’ position on my Gold chart with a 19 pip stop loss.

11:10am  ~  There is now a ‘short’ trendFX Trade setting up on my S&P 500 chart — watch this space…..

11:20am  ~  The S&P price has dropped sufficiently to allow a ‘short’ trade entry with a 29 pip stop loss. It is often quite risky to have a trade in both Gold and the S&P 500 in the same direction as they quite often move in opposite directions.

11:45am  ~  I am now out of the S&P position at a 1:1 profit (+29 pips) as the price seems to have lost its bearish momentum.

12:20pm  ~  The Gold price has stalled around the 12880 level a few times in past few hours so I have also come out of that trade with a 1:1 profit (+19 pips) also as I have  got lunch and packing to sort out soon.

23:00 CET (10pm UK time)  ~ Arrived safely a few hours ago here at the house but only just got the internet going – fingers crossed for the rest of the month.

Daily Target  +20 pips

Pips Achieved  +48 pips

07:50am  ~  It’s a lovely morning out there with the sun shining invitingly – I shall be out on a cycle ride soon and then back here in the study to do some emails and chart watching.

European equities had a subdued ending to yesterday’s trading session although a strong finish in the U.S. will give traders some optimism this morning for a bullish start. The Dow Jones 30 and S&P 500 ended up after strong corporate earnings, notably among those reporting was Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway whose class ‘B’ shares rose just over 3% to end at $129.70 after it was announced that Q2 earnings were up 41%. After last week’s bearish mood in the markets, it would seem that investors have renewed enthusiasm for buying and have pushed aside the troubles in Gaza, Libya and Ukraine.  This week we have a whole host of PMI numbers beginning with Spain and France, then Germany, UK and the U.S. so we will probably see the markets concentrating on those figures instead of geo-political problems.

WTI Crude Oil ended up 73 cents yesterday at $98.41 after Islamic militants are reported to have been gaining ground in Iraq, putting supplies at jeopardy and for technical traders there was also the $97 support level to keep the price up.  Gold traders were in a selling mood during yesterday’s session after a rally in equities meant a lack of demand for safe haven investments and the $1280 support from as far back as April still seems intact although if it does get breached this week, the next stop will be $1240.

Market Close Monday 4th Aug. 2014:  Dow Jones 30  -69.93 @ 16,493.37  S&P 500  -5.52 @ 1,925.15  FTSE 100  -1.66 @ 6,677.52  DAX 30  -55.94 @ 9,154.14  CAC 40  +14.44 @ 4,217.77

10:10am  ~  Just back from my cycle ride and now watching a handful of charts for any trade opportunities.  The only one showing any hope at the moment is my Gold chart so I will update here if there’s any development.

10:45am  ~  The Gold prices has moved down sufficiently to trigger a ‘short’ trade and I am in the market with a 15 pip stop loss. It is actually two separate set-ups, a UTB trade and also a ‘BERT’ pattern from the new  ’Master-The-Reversal‘ manual.

13:20pm  ~  My trade is still doing ok but the U.S. trading session is just about to start so I’ve brought my stop loss forward to +15 pips and I’ll wait and see what happens.

13:45pm  ~  The price is starting to get quite volatile so I have come out of the position and happy with a +42 pip profit.  Time for some lunch at the Lord Nelson…

16:50pm  ~  Just got back indoors and I’m going to watch my S&P500 chart to see if there are any “Trade With A Day Job” opportunities to take advantage of over the next few hours

18:35pm  ~  I’ve just had a nice ‘short’ signal on the chart, so I am now in a trade with a 19 pip stop loss.

18:45pm  ~  The S&P has suffered quite a dramatic price fall, not quite sure what’s triggered it – but I’m going to stay in a short while longer just to see where it goes next.

19:15pm  ~  We are going out for the evening in 5 minutes so I have closed off my trade with a +146 pip profit.

Daily Target  +20 pips

Pips Achieved  +188 pips !

07:30am  ~  I’m back at the cottage in Suffolk for a few days before going to Puerto Pollensa for the rest of August and today I have a few errands to sort out plus a tennis match later this afternoon. I shall also be here in the study for part of the morning doing emails and Skype calls.

The markets are expected to bounce back today after Friday’s sell-off prompted by worse-than-expected jobs data from the U.S. and we will be able to see whether the support level at 1916.50 that developed on the S&P 500 will hold – the Dow Jones 30 had a similiar support at 16,440.  Traders and investors speculated that lower than expected job creation for July would delay the Fed’s interest rate rise which caused a rush out of the U.S. Dollar, so the EUR/USD forex pair price jumped 33 pips to end the week at 1.3422 and Gold also faired well as an alternative investment, it rose almost $10 on the day, finishing at $1292.20.  Even though Thursday’s losses were virtually all cancelled out, it does still seem Gold has entered a bearish period and we are now looking at $1276 as the next stopping-off point.

WTI Crude fell through the $99 support level on Thursday last week and Friday’s session did not see any type of concerted buying to bring the value back up and short-term worries over the U.S. economy will no doubt keep the value subdued this week, although I have just noticed that there is a renewed support level at $97 which it hit on Friday so there maybe a small correction upwards from that.

Market Close Friday 1st Aug. 2014:  Dow Jones 30  -69.93 @ 16,493.37  S&P 500  -5.52 @ 1,925.15  FTSE 100  -50.93 @ 6,679.18  DAX 30  -197.40 @ 9,210.08   CAC 40  -43.36 @ 4,202.78

09:55am  ~  As usual the markets take a while to settle down at the beginning of the week so there’s not much to get excited about with my charts so far this morning, so I am going off for a cycle ride north along the beach for an hour or so then back here before lunch for some more emailing.

13:05pm  ~  Nothing to report on the trading front, it’s now lunch then tennis.

17:30pm  ~  Back from tennis and going to switch on my MT4 charts to see what’s happening with the S&P500 and my ‘evening’ system.

18:15pm  ~  Been watching the S&P 500 chart for 30 minutes or so and I can see a possible ‘long’ trade setting up.

18:25pm  ~  I’m in the market with a 12 pip stop loss, around normal for this type of trade.  We are off out at 8pm so it will be a fairly quick trade.

19;40pm  ~  The S&P price is still advancing quite well so I’ll probably stay in until I have to go out.

19:55pm  ~  That’s it — I am out of my S&P position with a +91 pip profit.

Daily Target  +20 pips

Pips Achieved  +91 pips

08:25am  ~  It’s that time of the month again (U.S. Non Farm Payrolls employment data) so as usual I will not be doing any trading today but I do have a few Skype calls lined up with new students wanting to learn to trade this morning and also I will be catching up on the backlog of emails – but first a quick cycle ride along the river bank to clear the cobwebs.

As with most European indices, the FTSE 100 ended in negative territory yesterday after being dragged down by Lloyds Bank, Vodafone and Barclays. Heavy selling in the U.S. at the start of their session no doubt contributed to the bearish attitude of London traders as well – and the S&P500 and Dow Jones indices also finished lower on a combination of weak corporate data, Russian worries, geopolitical problems and even the Argentinian default. If there is good news with the employment numbers later today there is then the prospect of the Fed finishing their economic money-printing stimulus early, which will have a negative effect on equities, so we that ‘good news is bad news’ scenario once again.

The panic selling in the main markets yesterday plus crude inventory numbers showing a decline in demand for the U.S. market had a negative effect of the Oil market as well yesterday and WTI Crude ended the day at $97.66 down nearly $2, and Gold showed a surprising drop of $13.60 on the day even though a drop in demand for equities usually has investors racing for the this safe haven asset – clearly the good news for the U.S. economy has outweighed this.

Market Close Thursday 31st July 2014:  Dow Jones 30  -317.06 @ 16,563.30  S&P 500  -39.40 @ 1,930.67  FTSE 100  -43.33 @ 6,730.11  DAX 30  -186.20  @ 9407.48   CAC 40 -66.13 @ 4246.14

Daily Target  +20 pips

Pips Achieved  -  No Trading Today

11:25am  ~  Today’s update is a bit later than usual as I was up very early this morning (6am) to go Clay-Pigeon shooting and I have only just returned home.

European markets had a generally bearish day yesterday – weighed down by troubles in Ukraine and even better than expected U.S. GDP growth did not help as traders interpret optimism in the economy pointing towards a quicker move towards higher interest rates and an end to the Fed’s stimulus package earlier than has been expected. Although the markets are all showing bearish tendencies this morning, they will probably settle down as the day develops ahead of tomorrow’s U.S. Job numbers (Non Farm Payroll)  With seemingly bad news from Ukraine, Gaza, Libya and now the Argentinian debt default, there is little to prompt the U.S. markets to reverse their recent short-term bearish trend – although traders may react positively to tomorrow’s data on employment even though it is expected to be down on June’s figures.

Oil had a bearish session yesterday too, with WTI Crude falling below the important $100 level where it is still hovering as I write this.  The main reason for this fall was increased weekly stockpile numbers at Cushing coupled with falling demand – and this general sentiment also brought Brent Crude down for the day as well. Optimism on the back on good U.S. GDP numbers hit the Gold value yesterday and with no safe-haven buying to prop the price up – it ended down over $3 at $1295.30.

13:10pm  ~  Not much happening on the few charts I’ve been watching over the last hour, so I’m off for lunch now and then I’m playing tennis this afternoon.

18:10pm  ~  I’ve just got back and switched on my S&P500 chart to see what’s going on with regard to my “Trade With A Day Job” evening strategy and I can see a trade has just triggered – I’m going to wait and see if I can join in at a slightly better entry level.

18:20pm  ~  I am in a ‘short’ position on the S&P with a stop loss of 23 pips.  The index, together with the narrower Dow Jones 30 has experienced a large fall since the U.S. session opened around 4 hrs ago although there has been a few attempts at a reversal so this will not be a long trade, it may only reach a 1:1 profit/loss ratio.

18:30pm  ~  I have come out of my position at +23 pips

08:25am  ~  Back home now after arriving late last night, so it will be a quiet and steady move back to normality today – I may do some chart watching later this morning while looking at my stack of emails.

As you can see from the market close figures below, the European equities had quite a good session but after an initial bullish move U.S. equities were weighed down by traders taking stock of fresh sanctions against Russia over their military support in Ukraine coupled with strong rhetoric from President Obama on the subject at last – meaning both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 finished well into negative figures. Earlier in the day markets were buoyed by U.S. consumer confidence numbers which at 90.9 were the highest since just before the global recession in late 2007 but European equities opened lower this morning after being dragged down by futures trading last night although they are fighting back now and have gained back most of the losses.

Overnight, Asian markets faired much better, seemingly shrugging off the bad news in Ukraine and Gaza that troubles the rest of us  and concentrating more on their corporate earnings – both the Hang Seng and Nikkei indices ended early this morning up overall although the strangely-named Bombay “Sensitive” ended down 0.28%

The WTI Crude price was under pressure yesterday as a strong U.S. Dollar and lower equity values pushed the value down and rumours of higher stockpiles at Cushing did not help the case for a reversal of the bearish trend – are we going to see a return to the support level at $99 ?  It ended the session at $101.02, down 59 cents.  Initially Gold turned bullish yesterday on news of escalating problems regarding Israel/Gaza but soon turned bearish once U.S. equities rallied in early afternoon as you’d expect – it finished almost $6 down at $1298.80

Market Close Tuesday 29th July 2014:  Dow Jones 30  -70.48 @ 16,912.11  S&P 500  -8.96 @ 1,969.95  FTSE 100  +19.68 @ 6,807.75  DAX 30  +55.46  @ 9653.63   CAC 40 +20.81 @ 4365.58

10:05am  ~  Not much happening on the few charts I have open on my screen so I may as well go out for a quick cycle ride along the river towards Paper Mill Lock.

11:45pm  ~  I’ve been back for a short while and I can see a possible ‘long’ trade setting up on my S&P500 chart using one of the trendFX patterns.

12:20pm  ~  I am in a ‘long’ position on the S&P chart – the stop loss is 23 pips.

14:45pm  ~  The markets are getting more volatile as the U.S. trading session is getting going so I came out a short while ago – I am off out for a late lunch with friends as well so it’s worked out ok.  My score for the trade was +45 pips.

18:10pm  ~  Back home now after a shopping trip – and I’ll switch on my S&P500 chart soon to see if there’s any “Trade With A Day Job” opportunities over the next few hours.

18:55pm  ~  There is the FOMC statement coming out in a few minutes so the market will most likely become volatile for a short while, so I’m going to  sit and just watch to see what happens.

19:15pm  ~  The market has shot up temporarily but the price action has slowed down slightly so there maybe an “extra” strategy set-up starting to develop.

19:25pm  ~ I am now in a ‘short’ position with a 29 pip stop loss – higher than normal for this particular strategy — but the trade may work ok judging by the way the price is reacting at the moment.

20:20pm  ~  Price momentum has slowed and I am off out for supper in a minute so I’ve come out of the market with a +49 pip profit.

09:15am  ~  It’s the end to my holiday down here in Cornwall today so will be flying back home later this afternoon.

Optimism overnight during the Asian trading session will come head to head this morning with worries over the Ukrainian situation as European Union ministers meet today to decide how to finally proceed with regard to economic sanctions against Russia. There is also key U.S. data out later in the form of the CB Consumer Confidence Survey then the Fed statement tomorrow, so markets may tread water for a while so that traders can judge sentiment in an effort to see where to go next. Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices have formed reversal candles on the daily charts so there maybe a move upwards towards by the end of the week but over here in Europe things do not seem as upbeat, the German Dax 30 continues its bearish trend so memories of that record 10,000 level are now firmly in the past and the French CAC 40 is in a similiar position.

WTI Crude prices has held tight despite the troubles in Libya where there is a massive oil refinery fire near the countries main airport – it ended yesterday slightly down at $101.58 even though U.S. stocks are not particularly high at Cushing, Wyoming.   The Gold price rose early in yesterday’s trading session mainly due to the escalating violence in Gaza and Ukraine but profit-taking later in the day meant a small loss of $3.6 finishing at $1304.5  -  and continuing low demand from Asia is still having an impact on the value this month.

Market Close Monday 28th July 2014:  Dow Jones 30  +22.02 @ 16,982.59  S&P 500  +0.57 @ 1,78.91  FTSE 100  -3.48 @ 6,788.07  DAX 30  -45.84  @ 9598.17   CAC 40 +14.22 @ 4344.77

10:50am  ~  Just got back here to the cottage after a leisurely breakfast out and have turned on my charts to answer an email from a customer – and I can see a possible ‘long’ trade setting up on the German Dax 30 index using my new “Burt” trading pattern from the ‘Master-The-Reversals‘ system manual.

11:20am  ~  It’s looking more likely now…..

11:30am  ~  I am now in the Dax position – with a 42 pip stop on a 1hr chart

15:15pm  ~  I am now out of my trade on the Dax 30 — we are off home shortly so I’ve closed the position off at +74 pips.  I have also taken a chart screenshot to send customers for their info.

10:15am  ~  It’s the last day of my Cornwall holiday so back home tomorrow and a resumption of ‘normal’ trading.

Looking back over the last week, European markets have struggled to advance in tandem to the U.S. Indices, with the geopolitical problems in Ukraine and Gaza weighing heavily on trader’s minds.  Half-hearted EU economic reaction against Russia have so far made no difference to Putin’s stance with regard to colonisation of neighbouring countries so there is talk of “Tier 3″ sanctions being put into place as quickly as this week if member states can put aside their own interests (ie: The French continuing to sell arms to Russia) and this will no doubt put pressure on equities.  The German Dax 30 has once again come down to the 9600 support level with little to encourage investor confidence unless employment and PMI numbers come in better than expected later this week.  In London, the FTSE 100 index stalled slightly on Friday at the previous resistance of 6830 after a week of modest gains and is slightly down this morning.

Over in the U.S. the Dow Jones 30 index had a negative week after failing to rise above the 17,130 resistance level but has now formed a support at 16,900 where it is sitting this morning in the futures market.  The wider S&P 500 index had a slightly better week and did manage another new record high on Thursday although it too has slipped back slightly.  The weekly chart has given us a reversal candle plus good support at 1950 so watch out for moves down towards that level.

Gold continues its recent decline amidst falling demand from its biggest market in Asia although geopolitical tensions should have supported the price better than it has in recent weeks – the chart seems to suggest a further move down towards $1290.

07:55am  ~  Another beautiful day down here in Cornwall and the scarcity of trading updates from me will continue today as there no chart watching again – we are flying over to St Mary’s in the Scilly Isles later this morning.  The plan is to return home at some stage early next week, so normal trading will resume then.

Over on the markets, the S&P 500 managed to briefly record another new high yesterday – very close to 1990, which was tested unsuccessfully early this morning in futures trading during the Asian session – this maybe a temporary resistance point so watch out for ‘short’ trading opportunities if the price ventures up there again today. The Dow Jones finished up in negative territory, mainly due to the Boeing share price plummeting but good news for Facebook shareholders as profits there grew 137% over the last quarter – this helped the Nasdaq index close 24 points up at 3986.  In Europe today there is a meeting to discuss the possibility of tougher financial sanctions on Russia over the Ukrainian problem although general sentiment seems to be that once again there will be no strong resolve to stop Russia’s sponsorship of the rebels who are currently being blamed for downing the Malaysian Airways plane. Here in the UK, following yesterday’s MPC minutes report it seems that there will be no immediate prospect of a rate rise as the committee are still concerned about wage rises staying well behind inflation – this news helped the FTSE 100 surge in early trading but then fall back after lunchtime after concerted profit-taking amid low volume trading. We are also getting into holiday season here in the UK as schools are breaking up for the summer and traders are decamping down here to Cornwall and further afield in Italy so low volumes will be the norm for the next month or so.

The WTI Crude stock level numbers came in low as widely expected so gave a boost to the price yesterday, it ended $103.26 up $1.28 on the day and Gold suffered after the S&P 500 surged ahead to record highs – it dropped $3.20 to $1304.20 and has declined further during the Asian trading session early this morning and is now below the significant $1300 level.

Market Close Wednesday 23rd July 2014:  Dow Jones 30  -26.91 @ 17,086.63  S&P 500  +3.48 @ 1,987.01  FTSE 100  +2.81 @ 6,798.15  DAX 30  +19.23  @ 9753.56 CAC 40 +6.80 @ 4376.32