07:45am   Trying to be at home today so I can catch up on emails and do some Trade-Alerts for Triangle Trading subscribers although a long cycle ride has been suggested this afternoon.  If I have any trades I will report them here through the day.

Market Update:

Unfortunately the effects of terrorism did affect the markets yesterday after the horrific events in Brussels, travel and hotel shares were down although most European indices ended slightly up on the day. The overnight Asian session was also downbeat showing that the terrorist threat does stretch across the global economy – although Chinese markets bucked the trend with the Shanghai Composite ending up 11 points and the Shenzhen Composite fairing better at +22 points.

Here in Europe there has been an optimistic start to today’s trading session with the French CAC 40, German Dax 30 and London’s FTSE 100 all showing gains as they open, I suspect ongoing investigations in Brussels will affect sentiment so keep an eye on rolling news channels if you’re trading today.

In the oil market, U.S. WTI Crude took a breather yesterday from its long climb upwards and has developed a bearish reversal candle very close to its 200-day moving average so we may see some profit taking in long contracts ahead of today’s Crude Oil Inventories.

Trading Diary:

09:15am   Possible UTB pattern on my FTSE-100 chart.

09:25am   I am now in a ‘short’ position on the FTSE-100, it’s a bearish UTB set-up and my stop loss is 11 pips.

09:55am   There is also a possible UTB on my Gold chart currently.

11:10am   The UTB I’ve been watching for on my Gold chart has not materialised but I am now in a ‘short’ position on the same chart – a trendFX strategy-1 set-up with a 20 pip stop loss.  My FTSE trade is still going along slowly, currently at +8 pips.

12:35pm   Getting ready for lunch out with some fellow traders so I have just closed off my Gold position at +102 pips and I have brought the stop loss down to break-even on my FTSE position.  My take profit level on that trade is set at +11 pips and it’s currently sitting at +5 pips as we head towards the U.S. open.

14:00pm    Back from lunch but no more trading for me today as  1)  I’m happy with the two trades I’ve completed  (the FTSE position ended at +11 pips while I was at lunch)  and  2)  a bunch of us are off for a cycle ride for a couple of hours.  Back tomorrow for one more day of trading before the Easter weekend break.