08:05am CET (07:05 UK time)  ~  A nice lazy day here at home today apart from a cycle ride with my neighbour this morning, so I’ll report back later with any trades I find.

U.S. markets took a dive as soon as they opened yesterday, mainly on continued crude price woes which in turn put pressure on oil companies although the Dow Jones 30 did stage a small recovery at the end to finish just 96 points down at 17,640. Goldman Sachs issued a note yesterday that said crude oil prices needed to drop to $40 a barrel to re-balance the market and this was partly to blame for the new low of $45.72 for WTI Crude by last night’s close. Brent Crude was also down, finishing at $47.15 and after the Asian session overnight is trading further down at $46.10 as I write this.  There is UK inflation data out this morning which is expected to show a 12-year low fuelling speculation of deflation spreading further across the world although traders may see it positively as it should also delay the Bank of England’s rate rise until later in 2015.  The German Dax 30 had a positive day yesterday even though the Greek elections are getting nearer with the anti austerity Syriza Party leading its rivals in the polls, traders feel that the ECB’s quantitative easing programme is just around the corner – a mood of optimism is sweeping the country.

Gold is still nudging towards the $1238 resistance level and had another positive session yesterday, it was up over $10 to $1233.20 as investors once again seek some safety from worries of deflation and plunging oil prices. In overnight trading the price has already hit the resistance level so today’s session will show if traders have the stomach to push the price towards the next resistance at $1255.

Market Close Monday 12th January 2015:   Dow Jones 30  -96.53 @ 17,640.84  S&P 500  -16.55 @ 2,028.26  NASDAQ  -43.31 @ 4,169.97  FTSE 100  +0.28 @ 6,501.42  UK AIM  +0.47 @ 703.92  DAX 30  +133.40 @ 9,781.90  CAC 40  +49.17 @ 4,228.24  IBEX  +78.50 @ 9,797.50   Nikkei 225 (Today)  -110.02 @ 17,087.71  Hang Seng (currently)  +176.73 @ 24,203.19

All times below are CET (GMT + 1hr)

08:10am  ~  While I was writing the market update above I was checking the chart for yesterday’s movement and noticed a trendFX trade setting up on my Gold chart, so I am now in a ‘long’ position with a 35 pip stop loss.

09:55am  ~  Neighbour Kurt has arrived for cycle ride so I’ve brought the stop loss on my Gold trade up to minus 10 pips but left the ‘take-profit’ level open at the moment to see what happens when I get back in an hour or so.

11:20am  ~ Back now and the trade is sitting at +20 pips.

13:00pm  ~  The Gold chart is stuck in the doldrums for the last few hours, my position is at +24 pips.

13:20am  ~  Off out to lunch in Pollensa now plus the Gold price is really struggling to get over the $1240 level so I have just closed off my position with a +35 pip profit.

15:05pm  ~  Back home now and I can see a possible ‘long’ UTB trade setting up on my Brent Crude chart.

15:10pm  ~  The prices has risen sufficiently to trigger the trade, I have a 47 pip stop loss.

15:35pm  ~  That was quite a speedy trade – I am now out with +50 pips, the upward price momentum started to cool so I covered my stop loss and exited.

17:50pm  ~  No further trades in the last hour and we’re out for the evening in a short while so charts are off now.