08:25am CET (07:25am UK time)  ~  I have already been out for a cycle ride this morning – and back now and sitting here in the kitchen doing some emails. I have quite a few Skype calls this morning and I shall also be doing some chart watching as well.  Friends around here this afternoon for a tennis match. Overnight trading in Asia was choppy but ultimately ‘flat’ as there was a reluctance for any concerted buying by traders after news that the Japanese economy suffered its largest contraction since 2011 and the U.S. trading session ended in negative figures as geo-political problems still weigh heavily on investors.  There seemed to be no real enthusiasm for a continued march upwards for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones 30 but positive data regarding jobs plus the expectation of good retail sales numbers later today may kickstart the indices after lunchtime. Over here in Europe there was overnight news that there is poor investor confidence in Germany together with Italy entering recession yet again – plus Portuguese banking problems – this all goes to paint a picture of general gloom for the EU region. U.S. WTI Crude price fell yesterday after reports of increased supplies at Cushing, Wyoming and is now heading towards the $96.30 support level and on the back of this drop. UK Brent Oil also had a bearish session yesterday, still obeying the bearish trend that started during the third week of June and it looks as though the price is heading firmly towards $100.  Gold seems to have reached a plateau after a good run-up following problems in the Middle East and Ukraine, but now seems to be having a breather so watch out for ‘short’ trading opportunities below the pivot level at $1305 amid a continuing drop in demand from Asia in general – it closed yesterday at $1310.30

Market Close Tuesday 12th Aug. 2014:  Dow Jones 30  -9.44 @ 16,560.54  S&P 500  -3.17 @ 1,933.75  FTSE 100  -0.40 @ 6,632.42  DAX 30  -111.47 @ 9,069.47  CAC 40  -35.54 @ 4,162.16

10:55am  ~  Not much happening on my charts so far this morning, so switching them off and getting outside for a while – it’s too sunny to be indoors any longer.

17:50pm  ~  Finished tennis so going to have shower and switch on my S&P 500 chart to watch for any “Trade With A Day Job” set-ups.

18:30pm  ~  The S&P has reversed and I’m in a ‘long’ position with a 16 pip stop loss.

22:15pm  ~  I’ve left the trade alone for the past few hours as we’ve had friends round for supper but I have just closed my trade off and taken a screenshot of the chart. End result +25 pips.

Daily Target +20 pips

Pips Achieved +25 pips