09:25am  ~  We’re off to Goodwood again for a second (and last) day but before that I’m going to spend an hour here in the study replying to emails and also have a few Skype calls with budding traders. Not sure if I’ll be back in time to trade my “evening” system – plus there is the FOMC announcement* out at 7pm tonight which will upset the market one way or another, so it may be prudent to leave the S&P500 chart alone later on.

*This announcement by theFed is it’s primary ‘tool’ it uses to communicate with investors regarding monetary policy and also interest rate voting & other policy measures together with other economic conditions that influence their monthly rate decision. Importantly for traders, it gives clues as to how the committee feels about the general U.S. economy and also gives guarded clues on possible future interest rate movement.  This is why there is usually a marked movement in the main U.S. indices, so it’s prudent that all traders are out of positions 15 minutes before the announcement. Obviously, the currency market is also affected, so it’s best for new traders to have the evening off from trading as a safety measure.

19:10pm  ~  We’ve just got back and I have had a brief look at my S&P500 chart, and true to form, there’s been a sharp 40 pip movement upwards and it’s now come back down to 16910 although there is still a lot of volatility in the price movement. Best to stay away – so we’re going to have some supper and then up to Suffolk for a week at the cottage