08:55am   Relaxed start this morning after a very late night and no trading for me today I have golf match with three fellow traders at 11am, then into London late afternoon – back in front of my charts tomorrow.

Market Update:

Global markets have settled down slightly on the back of an improving Crude Oil price. There are rumours that senior OPEC officials are trying to meet their Russian counterparts to formulate a deal that would steady the volatile oil price and shore up falling values. This will not happen overnight, or within the next few months so yesterday’s WTI and Brent Crude reaction gives you some idea of how jittery traders are at the moment, any scrap of perceived good news will move the market quickly.

Today’s focus is on the Federal Reserve’s first rate announcement of the new year and while nobody expects another rise, the rhetoric will be interesting given the extreme volatility in the world markets since they raised rates late last year. Gold is enjoying the flight to safety from investors, the precious metal rose nearly $13 yesterday and is currently slightly down on last night’s close at $1117:50. The price on the daily chart is still closing in on it’s 200 day moving average, so expect a reaction when it finally gets there.