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.