07:55am  ~  A raft of Skype calls with new traders will keep me indoors this morning but I’ll be out in the fresh air this afternoon with some clay pigeon shooting up the road.  Off for a cycle ride in a minute as well.

The main news for the markets today is the outcome of the Scottish Referendum which has been won decisively by the ‘No’ vote meaning that the United Kingdom will stay together until Alex Salmond thinks he has a good chance of winning another vote, although David Cameron has just said in his TV speech that the question is settled now for a ‘lifetime’ – we shall see. One thing is for sure though, the futures markets like the outcome.

Although I was not trading yesterday a lot of friends were long on the FTSE and UK pound from early in the morning on the presumption that the outcome would be positive for the union although there will probably be some profit taking in the next few hours. Watch banking shares today as Lloyds and RBS breathe a sigh of relief as they needn’t move their operations south of the border. Over in Asian, Japanese equities now stand at a 7-year high on news that President Shinzo Abe is going to sort out the pension fund market over there which is seen as good news for the markets as pension funds will invest a larger proportion of their money back into stocks in the next year as a result of these reforms.  In the U.S. the S&P 500 index closed at another all time high (at 2011.86) and is still advancing on news of the Scottish vote, those heady levels of 1999 and 2007 around the 1500′s seem a long lost memory now. The smaller Dow Jones 30 index also advanced well and finished at 17,266 last night and is currently sitting at 17,339 as I am writing this.

The Gold market had indecisive day yesterday after a sharp drop on Wednesday and it formed a reversal candle by the close last night so today’s movement will give us some clue as to its future direction. A move below the $1215 support will signal a further drop towards $1180.

Market Close Thursday 18th Sept. 2014:  Dow Jones 30  +109.14 @ 17,265.99  S&P 500  +9.79 @ 2,011.36  NASDAQ  +29.52 @4,103.08  FTSE 100  +38.39 @ 6,819.29  DAX 30  +136.63 @ 9,798.13  CAC 40  +33.29 @ 4,464.70

11:25am  ~  There’s been no trade opportunities this morning when I’ve glanced at my selection of charts a few times this morning – that’s about it now as I’m off for an early lunch at midday and then out for the afternoon

Daily Target  +20 pips

Pips Achieved  -  No Trades This Morning