08:25am CET (07:25 UK time)  ~  We have visitors from England arriving this afternoon but before then I’ll be here in the study doing emails and Skype calls – plus some chart watching.

Markets yesterday had some challenging news to contend with as the copper price collapsed by more than 5% and disappointing U.S. retail numbers gave traders more reasons to be wary about the global economy. Today there is only PPI figures from the U.S. to keep the markets on their toes but weak numbers so far this month from Europe, China, UK and Japan does not bode well for the announcement at lunchtime.

As well as weak retail figures yesterday, the World bank cut its global growth forecast so equity markets were virtually all down on the day although trading in Asia overnight has reversed that sentiment.  WTI Crude Oil traders were in a buying mood yesterday as many feel that a short term support level has been reached just above $44 and the price was driven up for most of the day, reaching a high of $48.88 late in the session although some profit taking has taken place resulting in a move down to $47.68 currently – UK Brent Crude has been reacting in a similiar way with its support currently at $45.15.

Gold seems to have established a resistance point around $1240, traders were again unable to push the price above this level for a second day, so a new move downwards to $1220 could be on the cards over the next few days – currently at $1228.

Market Close Wednesday 14th January 2015:   Dow Jones 30  -186.59 @ 17,427.09  S&P 500  -11.76 @ 2,011.27  NASDAQ  -20.36 @ 4,145.84  FTSE 100  -153.74 @ 6,388.46  UK AIM  -4.84 @ 697.40  DAX 30  -123.94 @ 9,817.08  CAC 40  -67.04 @ 4,223.24  IBEX  -120.00 @ 9,846.00   Nikkei 225 (Today)  +312.74 @ 17,108.70  Hang Seng (currently)  +170.33 @ 24,282.93

All times below are CET ( GMT + 1hr)

08:55am  ~  The only excitement I can see so far on my collection of charts is a possible price reversal on my Gold chart, there’s the beginnings of a UTB pattern emerging.

10:00am  ~  It has taken a while but the Gold price has just risen enough to trigger a ‘long’ position. My stop loss is 24 pips.

11:10am  ~  The market is extremely volatile so I have come out of my UTB trade with a quick +93 pip profit.

11:30am  ~  Off to Palma airport now to fetch our weekend guests, so charts off for the time being.

13:55pm  ~  Back home now and I have just noticed a possible ‘long’ trade setting up on my Brent Crude chart using one of my trendFX strategies.

14:05pm  ~  I am now in the ‘long’ trade on Brent Oil with a slightly higher than normal 64 pip stop loss.

14:50pm  ~  The markets are very ‘jumpy’ today and moving large amounts so I’ve decided to take a good profit and leave charts alone now for a while – this latest trade has come out at +103 pips.

18:45pm  ~  Going to watch my S&P 500 chart for a short while before we all go out for the evening to see if there’s any ‘Trade With A Day Job‘ opportunities.

19:25pm  ~   I am now in a ‘short’ position although as has been typical today, the stop loss is slightly higher than usual for this particular system (31 pips)

19:50pm  ~  We’re off out in 10 minutes so I’ve closed my trade off at +38 pips.