09:05am   Nice relaxed start to my trading week and  today I am planning a quiet day at home catching up on emails and Skype calls plus some chart watching from time to time. Any trades I find will be detailed below (as usual) in my Trading Dairy.

Market Update:

U.S. equity markets finished the week on a high even though it was a short one due to the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday with the S&P-500 closing above the 2,600 level for the first time. Tech stocks were the biggest movers once again but retailer Macey’s shares rose the most through the day.  This morning S&P futures market is still managing to hang onto those gains and is currently sitting at 2602.10 with the 4hr chart suggesting some more gains.

The story in Europe was not so upbeat on Friday as markets closed mixed on political uncertainty and lower trading volumes due to the U.S. holiday on Thursday which seemed to carry on through Friday as well. There was concerns over issues in Ireland and Germany although the banking sector outperformed as looser rules on bad loan disposals are being mooed by EU regulators.

The overnight Asian trading session ended mixed with Chinese stocks down after the government there announced they were reducing import tariffs on nearly 200 consumer goods and despite solid Black Friday sales most tech companies suffered falls as well.  Oil values have had a good run-up once again on the back of expected global production cuts from OPEC members but as U.S. WTI Crude reached the significant $59.00 level late on in Friday’s session, traders began to book some profits and this has driven the price down to $58:59 this morning. There is rumours of increased U.S. shale production affecting the market this week so watch for official U.S. numbers later in the week.

Gold is rising in small increments on the back of Dollar weakness, it is currently sitting at $1291:50 although I can see a possible reversal point around $1294 in the next few days. Traders I have spoken to over the weekend are saying there is more of a focus on equities than Gold at the moment so do expect larger trading volumes and extended moves this week.

Trading Diary:

09:55am  It’s not always a good idea to jump straight into trades first thing on a Monday morning as the markets are trying to settle down into a new trading week but a ‘long’ signal has just popped up on my Gold 15-min chart so I have taken it although I’m not quite sure yet how long I will be in the position.  It’s a Master-The-Trend Strategy-A pattern and my stop loss is a very reasonable 14 pips.

12:05pm   Just back from a long cycle ride and my Gold trade is still trundling along quite happily, I’m going to watch it more closely now upto the U.S. trading session open to see if the price rises above $1295.

14:20pm   The Gold price has had a good run-up in the last hour but seems to be coming back down the 126.50 level. I am very happy with the profit achieved by my position so I am now out at +59 pips.  I am closing my charts now to get on with some pressing DIY jobs here at home but I will be back in front of my screens tomorrow morning.