08:30am  ~  A bit of a lay in for me today after a late night out and I’m also not sure how much chart watching I will manage today as I have two cars to get down to Ipswich for servicing plus some clay-pigeon shooting if the rain calms down slightly.

U.S. equities staged a recovery on the open as better than expected retails sales and job numbers were announced as it seems that lower oil prices are harming energy producers but is good news for consumers as they have more money in their pockets to spend in the high street (or shopping mall)  There was a sharp reaction for the Dow Jones and S&P indices initially on the announcement but profit taking pared back a lot of the gains later in the session and the daily charts seem to have resumed their bearish stance – and this morning’s S&P 500 futures are slightly down as the European market is opening.

As has been usual this week, trader’s focus has been on the crude oil market and the falling price. The U.S. WTI Crude price staged a small rally yesterday early in the session but then resumed it’s now normal trajectory – this fall in value started in earnest around the middle of June when the price was $107 and yesterday it fell through the significant $60 level and is still trading down at $59.20 as I write this.  The Russians have also said that they’re not cutting production either – the Saudis have the same stance at the moment – so it’s now looking like a game of high-stakes poker, who’s going to fold first ? UK Brent Oil is now getting near the level where it’s uneconomical to drill for North Sea Crude so the Scots must be quite pleased they didn’t go for independence as a lot of the economic sums were based on $70-$80 per barrel.

Market Close Thursday 11th December 2014:   Dow Jones 30  +63.19 @ 17,596.34  S&P 500  +9.19 @ 2,035.35  NASDAQ  +24.14 @ 4,708.16  FTSE 100  -38.34 @ 6,461.70  UK AIM  -5.31 @ 698.05  DAX 30  +62.80 @ 9,862.53  CAC 40  -2.05 @ 4,225.86  IBEX  +34.90 @ 10,431.80   Nikkei 225 (Today)  +114.18 @ 17,371.58  Hang Seng (currently)  -6.60  @ 23,305.94

11:30am  ~  Not much chance for any trading this morning – been in and out of the house but may have a chance to look after lunch.

15:20pm  ~  Been out on errands and now off for a quick session of Clay Pigeon shooting so no trading to report for today.