08:50am (WET)  ~  Slightly cloudy here this morning but still 65 degrees as I write this, so some windsurfing has been promised by my host later this morning. I will also have a few hours on the new manual later on, the plan is to finish by the end of the week.

As mentioned yesterday, some indices are hovering around at new highs but it seems as though traders have sat back and taken stock and decided there is no reason for this buying enthusiasm so there was a generally subdued day’s trading yesterday. We also witnessed a surprise drop in the US consumer confidence which dented investors’ optimism keeping any attempt to move higher in close check. Gold prices reached a new recent high above $1340 mark, the strongest level in more than 4 months and ended the session nearly $4 up. It was the decline in the US consumer confidence that pushed up demand for precious metals as safe haven assets.

09:20am (WET)  ~  I have just been trying to send out some charts to students but our email provider Aweber has been subject to a DDoS attack which has rendered their service inoperable for the time being – apologies to all who are waiting for this info from me.

09:30am (WET)  ~  While sitting here with a laptop I’ve just scrolled through my four favourite charts and there seems to be a ‘short’ trade setting up on my Gold chart. More news later.

11:05am (WET)  ~  The Gold trade triggered a short while ago and is currently running at +8 pips with a stop loss of +29 pips.  It is a UTB set-up from my “Any-Time” collection of strategies.

12:45am (WET)  ~  I’ve been informed that the wind is now at a reasonable strength to go windsurfing in so my Gold trade is now closed. It managed +59 pips.

22:55pm (WET)  ~  I did have a quick look at my S&P500 chart earlier this evening before we went out but there was not much happening with my “Trade With A Day Job” strategy, the S&P was in a narrow channel for a while and broke off quickly in a downward direction.

Daily Target Reached ?  YES  (+59 pips)