07:35am  ~  I have a day here at home doing some chart watching, emails and Skype calls ahead of a three week holiday in Cornwall starting tomorrow.

After the initial euphoria of better than expected job creation numbers in the U.S. last Thursday, we had another case of good news is bad news for the markets as traders guessed that increasing confidence for world’s biggest economy will mean a rate hike by the Fed sooner than was first thought and this resulted in some profit taking in U.S. equities yesterday.  The DJ30 ended above the 17,000 level again after losing 44 points during the session with the wider S&P 500 index failed again to reach 2,000 and finished nearly 8 points down at 1,977.65 with the daily chart showing a bit of technical resistance  and over here in Europe there was also a largely bearish end to Monday’s trading session as well.

WTI Crude continued its bearish stance, losing 32 cents yesterday ending at $103.40 after news that Libya is going to ‘immediately’ export upto 7.5 million barrels of oil and across in Iraq, the situation there seems to optimistic as well following increased military organisation by the Iraqui government with help from the U.S. in the fight against ISIS – Brent Crude has also continued its price drop after the high at the middle of June, it has now gone through a short term support/resistance around $110.60 but is shortly coming up against a trendline support so keep your eyes out for bullish opportunities.  Gold has also suffered from speculation that there maybe an early rate hike in the U.S. and lost just over $1 yesterday, ending at $1320 although there is some support at $1309.

Market Close Monday 7th July 2014:  Dow Jones 30  -44.05 @ 17,024.21  S&P 500  -7.79   @ 1,977.65  FTSE 100  -42.54 @ 6,823.51  DAX 30 -103.01 @9,906.07

09:15am  ~  I was just going to go off on a quick cycle ride but I’ve spotted a potential ‘short’ set-up on my Cable chart with one of the ‘Master The Reversal’ strategies so I shall hang-on for a while to see what occurs.  There was an earlier Brent Oil & Dax 30 trade I missed as I was cooking breakfast at the time for some friends who stayed last night – they are both doing ok (the trades not the friends !)

09:35am  ~  I am in a ‘short’ position on my GBP/USD chart, the stop loss is 17 pips.

10:15am  ~  That was a quick move down —  I am now out of the position with a speedy +33 pip profit and time for my cycle ride.  Just taken a chart screenshot for customers which I’ll send when I get back in a couple hours or so.

12:40pm  ~  Just got back from an extended cycle ride and I’ve switched this laptop on so I can watch some charts for a few hours before I go off for my first horse-riding lesson.

13:00pm  ~  I am now in a ‘short’ on the S&P500 — it is a trendFX set-up and the stop loss is 20 pips which very acceptable for a 30 minute chart.

14:55pm  ~  The S&P has come down nicely and as I have to be out on a few minutes I have come out of of the market happy with the +68 pips I’ve earned.  It look as though the market will go down a bit more but this will do me fine.

19:50pm  ~  Just got back indoors and we’re out soon for some supper, so no trading for me this evening.