08:50am  Back home after a short trip away so I will be here in the study for most of the day catching up on emails and doing some chart watching – I am also putting the finishing touches to the updated trendFX manual, my most successful set of trading strategies over the last 7 years, more news later today.

Market Update:

Main news in the markets is the ongoing Italian situation that was triggered by Sunday’s referendum and their main MIB-30 index closed around 30 points down yesterday but is mainly flat this morning ahead of the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday – expectations are that Mario Draghi, the president of the ECB will announce an extension to his bond buying programme.  U.S. equities were unchallenged by troubles in Europe yesterday though and the Dow Jones 30 closed at 19,216 another record high for the index although the wider S&P-500 is still lagging slightly behind and failing to get upto the high of 2214.50 that it managed last week.

Initial concerns amongst Asian bourses over the Italian referendum result at the weekend has subsided this morning with most equity markets up today on news that the Reserve Bank of Australia has kept its base lending rate at 1.5% which is seen as positive by traders. The higher Euro overnight also helped with general optimism as it is taken as a sign that currency traders are not that concerned with any fall-out from a possible banking problem in Italy.

Crude oil markets hit a high yesterday but are now retreating as it becomes clear that most oil producing countries have increased their daily output ahead of the self-imposed production cut on January – this should keep price rises at bay for a while and hopes of a $60 per barrel level fade for the next few months.

Trading Diary:

09:25am  As my favourite charts are fairly quiet at the moment, I am going to take this opportunity to go for a cycle ride – the route I am taking today is a 13 mile round-trip so back in just over an hour

11:40am   Just entered a ‘short’ trade on my WTI Crude chart – more details soon, on a Skype call at the moment.

11:50am   My WTI Crude Oil position was triggered by a UTB price-reversal pattern on the 15-min chart. It has a 16 pip stop loss.   Just been reminded I am going to help a neighbour pick-up his new car at 1-pm so the trade may be a short one if it’s in profit by the time I leave.

12:35pm   The WTI Crude price has come down to around the $51:00 level so I am happy with my profit, I am out of the position now with +37 pips.  I will be back around 4pm if all goes to plan.

16:20pm   Been back a short while and there are no upcoming trade opportunities on my favourite charts so I shall switch off my screens and finish trading for the day.  Back tomorrow morning.