08:10am  ~  Just a quick note to say that I’ll not be trading this morning, myself and two friends are off to Duxford Aerodrome to look at a plane for sale.

Yesterday we saw the first down day for European markets in nearly two weeks as investors started to get nervous about the European Central Bank’s plans to undertake risk assessments on the loan books of the euro zone’s largest banks over the next year or so. Despite this slight setback, Europe’s markets look set to bounce back this morning after Chinese HSBC manufacturing PMI for October came in slightly higher than expected at 50.9, a seven month high. The Gold price eased off slightly yesterday, coming back down to the support/resistance level around $1332, on news that the second biggest market for the yellow metal has waned slightly. Are we going to see this level turn into support now, giving us a positive trading day today ?

18:25pm  ~  After a lovely day out, I got back here half an hour ago and I’m now going to switch my MT4 trading platform on and watch for any trade opportunities on a few charts.  My primary focus is always on my “Trade With A Day Job” evening beginner’s system but I will also look out for any of the many set-ups with the trendFX or Any-Time systems as well.  My evening system starts at 5pm, but it does not matter if you get to the charts later than that, there are usually opportunities all the way upto the U.S. trading session close at 9pm UK time.

19:10pm  ~  I am now in two separate trade positions.  My first trade was on my Gold chart using an Any-Time strategy, and I have also just got into an evening system position on the S&P500 chart.

19:50pm  ~  I am now out of my evening strategy trade at 20 pips (the normal target level) and my Gold trade is still advancing downwards at a slow but steady pace.

21:10pm  ~  All done on the markets for the evening now,  the U.S. markets are closed so momentum slows down quite considerably ahead of the Asian open.  My Gold trade ended at +25 pips and I also had a 2nd trade on the S&P500 with my evening system which I closed off 10 minutes ago at +10 pips.

Daily Target Reached ?  YES  (+55 pips)        I just traded this evening for a few hours

08:35am  ~  European markets are set to open slightly down after overnight Asian markets were spooked apparently on news that the Chinese Shadow Banking Sector is hiding some bad debt. Many commentators believe there is some bad news to come regarding this part of the Chinese economy as there is no real figures as to the size or risk of this type of lending, although some experts put the amount of shadow loans at $6 trillion. And also there is reports that Chinese banks have tripled their debt write-down programme for the first half of 2013.  As you know, the delayed September jobs figures were released by the U.S. Government yesterday and although they were below official estimates, the main indices rallied on speculation that the Fed will not now reducing its money-printing activities (tapering) until well into next year.  The WTI Crude Oil price stayed below $100 yesterday on growing anticipation that oil inventories is going to show another surplus – those numbers will be out later this afternoon.  Gold value increased slightly, partly due to buying from Indian jewellers ahead of a government curb on imports.

The weather this morning on the Suffolk coast can be accurately described as ‘grim’ so I’m spending the morning here in the study doing some emails and Skype calls together with chart-watching as well. I am hoping the weather will improve later as I have  MOT’s booked on two of my bikes this afternoon in Ipswich.

08:55am  ~  The markets seem quite ‘lively’ this morning and some of my favourite charts* have moved well in the past hour or so, some too early for me to have got in with a trade though. However, I did manage to catch a short on my S&P500 chart a short while ago, using a trendFX strategy. It’s doing ok so far.

10:30am  ~  I am still in my S&P ‘short’ trade and although it initially went down quite nicely, it now seems to be stuck in the doldrums and is currently at minus 3 pips.

12:35pm  ~  I am off out for lunch soon so I have taken the opportunity to shut my trade off at break-even as the market seems to be going up and down in a channel.  I am out for most of the afternoon but will be back later so I may trade my evening system

18:55pm  ~  I’ve just got back home so I’m going to fix some supper for us while watching my S&P500 chart here in the kitchen, I will report back later if I have news of any trades

21:05pm  ~  I did end up having a late trade, entry just after 8:30pm and after 30 minutes I came out with a small 8 pip profit just as the market closed for the day.

Daily Target Reached ?  NO  (+8 pips)       I traded this morning plus a few hours this evening.

08:05am  ~ After a short lie-in (after getting back here late yesterday evening) I’m now in the study to do some emails and Skype calls with budding traders. I shall also watch a few charts, but I don’t expect much movement ahead of the Non Farm Payrolls announcement at lunchtime. For a break mid-morning I shall have a cycle ride up the coastal path past the pier.

The markets today are set to open ‘flat’ as traders sit on the sidelines waiting for the U.S. employment figures to be released at 13:30pm (UK time).  Although the UK’s FTSE100 finished yesterday at the same level as the high in September, over the water the Dow Jones index in New York had a lacklustre session ending broadly where it started, even though it did hit an intra-day high of over $15400 for October.  The WTI Crude price yesterday traded below the psychologically important level of $100 for the first time since July following a rise in expected Oil Inventories and once the numbers were confirmed, the price slumped further to close at $99.44 a barrel.  Gold had a boring day as traders and investors wait on the sidelines for today’s Non Farm Payroll numbers, disappointing figures should raise the price above the $1325 resistance level – keep an eye out if your in the market today.

08:35am  ~  Quite surprisingly, I’ve just found a trade to enter. It’s a short opportunity on my Gold chart, a UTB strategy set-up from the “Any-Time” collection of systems, which I got into a minute ago. Entry level was 1315.3 plus the spread (5pips)

09:55am  ~  The trade is going ok but I’m going to close it off soon as a friend is due round soon for our cycle ride.

12:10pm  ~  Just back from my cycle ride – and I did come out of my Gold position earlier at 1311.3 giving me a profit of +35 pips — I was out at 10:19am. Four Skype calls to do now then some lunch at The Swan.

No more trading for me today ahead of the Non Farm Payrolls announcement in just over an hours time.

Daily Target Reached ?   YES (+35 pips)        I traded for a couple of hours this morning.

09:50am  ~   I am still away on my long-weekend break, typing this from my hotel room after an excellent breakfast. Things on the markets may get a bit ‘choppy’ this week after another record week on the U.S. markets last week, together with positive performances here in Europe.  Due to the U.S. Government shutdown we did not have a release of September’s U.S. employment figures, so tomorrow’s Non Farm Payroll numbers should liven up the markets – the usual doldrums in the morning and then the markets shooting off in one direction or the other at 1:30pm.  The figures may give an indication as to whether the Federal reserve will be scaling back their asset purchasing programme any time soon, so traders will be looking further into the numbers than usual I would expect.  Last week’s rise on the value of Gold came to a sudden halt on Friday, mainly due to news that the Chinese economy has resumed its upward direction, so giving traders less reason to find any safe-haven investments, but also partly because (as a technical trader) I could see the price on the daily chart hit a resistance level on Thursday evening and then formed a reversal pattern on Friday.

We’re leaving here after lunch and travelling back to Suffolk for a few days and then escaping this grey weather for Spain at the end of the week.

20:35pm  ~  After a longer than expected journey back, we’ve just arrived home. The U.S. market is closing in 25 minutes so I will not bother to open any charts now, and with Non farm Payroll ‘Tuesday’ tomorrow, I’m not sure there’s going to be much movement on the main indices in the morning – we shall wait and see.

This week’s “Trade Of The Week” was sent in by student Joe Skinner. He has been learning to trade with me just since February 2013.  Firstly, here is the email he sent me:

Click on images to enlarge.

And this is the chart showing his Brent Oil trade which got him 115 pips.  It also shows some other trades he took afterwards.

09:55am  ~  Last night on the markets the S&P500 ended at it’s highest point since this time last month, and economic news out from China will keep optimism high for today I should imagine, as their GDP figure has eventually gone back into positive territory after two quarters of negative growth. Overnight, WTI (Oil) futures gained on the back of China’s news as well, as demand looks like climbing once again.  Gold had a good run up yesterday as well and has now hit a MA resistance line on the daily chart, so we may see a bit of selling later today.

I’ve some chores to do around the house ahead of a long weekend away in London for myself and the blonde, but I will do a bit of chart watching later on.

11:45am  ~  While sorting out some 73 year old wiring in the in the cellar I got into a ‘short’ position on my Brent chart  about half an hour ago  - I was glancing at the market on this laptop every 20 minutes or so while digging through a wall. I was only watching two charts so there may well have been some more set-ups that I did not notice.

13:00pm  ~  Time for lunch with some buddies at the Lord Nelson so it’s away with the tools and the Brent trade is also history – it came out fairly well, I ended ahead by 41 pips.

15:45pm  ~  Back from lunch and will be off to London as soon as the taxi arrives.

Daily Target Reached  YES  (+41 pips)     I traded late morning.

09:25am  ~  After 17 days common sense has prevailed and a deal has been done to raise the debt ceiling in the U.S. early this morning, although it’s only a short term measure as the whole episode is going to be revisited in February next year. As Winston Churchill once said, you can always count on the Americans doing the right thing, after they have tried everything else. Due to the expectation of a government settlement, the markets rose prematurely yesterday afternoon, almost as soon as the U.S. trading session got underway, but we may now see some profit taking as everyone gathers their thoughts even though we may now begin testing the previous highs from mid-September.  Now the debt ceiling wrangles on Capitol Hill are resolved for the next few months, I would imagine the focus for the markets now is going to be whether the Fed is going to reduce their fiscal (money printing) stimulus programme. Gold initially dropped in value yesterday as the U.S. indices rose, but bargain-hunters quickly realised that buying opportunities were looking at them square in the eye, and the price ended roughly were it began. Looking at the chart this morning, I can see we’ve just bounced off an important moving average, so there should be a few trading opportunities before close of play tomorrow.

For me it’s going to be a cycle ride now, followed by a quick trip to pick-up some building materials for a project I’m doing up the road, then a sit down here in the study to watch some charts for a few hours. I will report back later if I get into any trading positions.

11:45am  ~  Back home now and looking forward to a few hours quiet reading, watching charts and a bit of emailing as well.

12:40pm  ~  The only thing I could find on my MT4 charts was a ‘short’  trendFX strategy one opportunity on Brent Oil – I am currently at break even.

15:05pm  ~  I’m happy with the way this Brent Oil trade has developed so I’m now out of the market with a 38 pip profit – my stop loss on this position was only 22 pips so there was a decent reward for being in the market for just a few hours. I will be back here at 5 o’clock to see if there any trade set-ups with my S&P evening system.

18:10pm  ~  Well, that’s the evening trading session sorted –  I had one quick  ’long’ trade on the S&P500 which I’ve just come out of with a 27 pip profit   –   my stop-loss was 14 pips.

Daily Target Reached ?  YES (+65 pips)      I have traded on and off since just before lunchtime.

09:05am  ~  I don’t imagine there’s going to be much going on in the markets this morning as traders here in the UK and the rest of Europe watch their news feeds for news about the U.S. debt ceiling crisis. The markets fell quite sharply yesterday afternoon after news that negotiations had stalled – and my “evening” system caught the move down – but then it rallied slightly after there was a glimmer of hope as talks resumed and the House of Representatives will bring a new plan to the floor for another vote. With this light at the end of the tunnel, the Dow Jones gained some small momentum and finished yesterday’s session at $15220. Obviously the S&P500 index followed these moves as well and ended down on the day overall.  My Gold chart this morning shows a reversal candle formed yesterday, so we may have a move up – but that really depends on what happens in the U.S. later today.

I am going to be here in the study this morning after a quick cycle ride now up the coast path towards Easton Wood.  I shall watch my charts later while doing some emails (plus a meeting here with the builders) but I am not expecting much in the way of opportunities because of reasons I’ve outlined above.

11:55am  ~  There’s a ‘short’ trade opportunity that’s unfolding on my Gold chart, the only really interesting thing that’s happened all morning, so if the price goes down a bit more I’ll get into a trade and see what happens.

13:50pm  ~  I am still in my Gold trade, but although the price has dropped slightly, nothing much has happened really.  I’ll hang on for a bit longer as I’m here in the study anyway but I don’t think much will occur unless we have some news from the U.S. after their trading sessions kicks off.

14:55pm  ~  Well that was a nice surprise, Gold has suddenly dropped and I’m +101 pips in profit at the moment.

15:15pm  ~  I’m out of the market now, there’s no need for any more pips as I am way above my daily target anyway (105 pips)

17:05pm  ~  I wasn’t really planning on trading this evening, but if I do it gives me a chance to send out a chart screenshot with trade examples to new students which obviously helps with their overall trading education, so I’m going to sit down here in front of my MT4 chart for a few hours and see what comes up with my beginner’s evening system.

19:45pm  ~  I have had one trade this evening, a long position which was stopped out at minus 22 pips, and rather than watch for any more opportunities we’re off up the road for some supper

Daily Target Reached ?  YES  (+83 pip)      I traded on and off from 11am this morning

09:15am  ~   The markets yesterday displayed a high degree of confidence that we’re going to have a solution this week to the U.S. debt problem.  The S&P500 rose up over the 1700 level in the last hours of yesterday’s trading session, a level we have not seen since the end of September.  Data released yesterday showed that industrial output rose in the Eurozone so that gave support to the markets as well and given the fact that equity markets rose after the weekend break, it’s not surprising that the value of Gold came down slightly – the reasons for that have been written about here on many occasions.

I am off for a cycle ride now but will be back in an hour to watch my charts and do some emailing.

11:10am  ~  I sat down half an hour ago to watch for any trade opportunities, and a few minutes ago I got into a ‘short’ position on my Brent Oil chart. I used one of the strategies from the trendFX system.

14:15pm  ~  My Brent Oil position has just come to end with favourable outcome (+60 pips).   Just had a large book delivery from Amazon, so I’m going to delve into them this afternoon with a nice pot of tea.

17:30pm  ~  I’m taking a break from my “reading-afternoon” and have switched this laptop on to watch for any trades with my “Trade With A Day Job” evening strategy.  I will report back as to whether it’s a lively or quiet evening on the market.

19:15pm  ~  In in my first position of the evening trading session, a short on the S&P500 – currently running at break even.

19:40pm  ~  I am out of the market and not looking for any other trades now. The S&P staged a quite dramatic fall in price and I have come out with +83 pips. Off out for some supper now as I’ve been indoors since late morning.

We’re about half way through the month and my trading profit so far for October stands at +1057 pips.

Daily Target Reached ?  YES (+143 pips)   I have traded on and off since late morning.

08:45am  ~  Back in the UK and enjoying the rainy weather this morning, it seems as though winter has arrived very quickly here in East Anglia.

At the start of a new week in the markets the dominating story is going to be the continuing U.S. Debt Ceiling saga – as we are now very close to the deadline coming up on Thursday. The markets last week were full of false optimism for a negotiated settlement which showed in the sharp move upwards on Thursday and Friday, but now the budget talks it would appear are now moving to the Senate in the latest chapter in this long drawn out saga.  Even here there appears to be problems, where Democrats are looking to undo budget cuts from earlier in the year, something Republicans are resisting. It is going to be an interesting week, and that usually produces some good trading opportunities.

I will not be in front of my charts quite yet, I have a site meeting with the builders in 15 minutes just up the road, then out on my bike for a ride after that. Later this afternoon I shall be going up to the cottage at Southwold for a few days.  Another reason I do not rush to open my charts at this time of the week is because Monday mornings are often slow in the markets as traders find their feet and gather info after a weekend of news and misinformation from politicians.

19:55pm  ~  Just got up here to the cottage and I’ve been summoned to the Lord Nelson – so there’s not going to be any chart watching going on tonight !