07:20am  ~  Early start for me today, we are off to look at property in Oulton Broad but first a couple of hours here in the study catching up on emails – not much trading  today I suspect.

The main subject of speculation in the markets today is the Greek debt problem that will be discussed at the Eurogroup of finance ministers this afternoon. The stand-off does not seem to be getting sorted so far with both Greece and Germany issuing statements that their respective demands are being met, so there should be some volatile trading opportunities on the EUR/USD today, keep your eyes peeled.  U.S. equities were generally bullish yesterday on hopes that there will be some sort of agreement by the end of this week with the main Dow Jones 30 index up 139 pips by last night to finish at 17,868 just short of the short term resistance at 17,930.  The wider S&P 500 is already sitting at it’s 2068 resistance point, so there maybe a pullback during today’s session – the 4hr chart is looking slightly overbought.

OPEC members Iraq and Iran have cut their wholesale crude prices to Asia and there are rumours that Saudi Arabia has followed suit in an attempt to keep market share and this news contributed to a fall in U.S. Crude value by nearly $1.50 to $50.97 per barrel. The U.S. stock situation numbers at their storage facility in Cushing Wyoming are released this afternoon and estimates are for a rise of over 3 million barrels will hurt values again.

Gold is currently suffering from bullish U.S. equities and is well established in a bearish trend, it fell another $5 yesterday to $1233.30 and is sitting around the $1230 support/resistance level that goes back as far as last September – watch for bullish trades off this level today.

Market Close Tuesday 10th February 2015:   Dow Jones 30  +139.55 @ 17,868.76  S&P 500  +21.85 @ 2,068.59  NASDAQ  +65.07 @ 4,281.16  FTSE 100  -8.03 @ 6,829.12  UK AIM  +2.55 @ 700.50  DAX 30  +90.32 @ 10,753.83  CAC 40  +44.57 @ 4,695.65  IBEX  +135.20 @ 10,500.10   Nikkei 225 (Today)  -59.25 @ 17,652.68  Hang Seng (currently)  +199.42 @ 24,328.68

08:55am  ~  I’m looking at my Brent Crude chart to answer a question from a new student and I can see a possible UTB trade setting up – although I’m not trading today I will take it if it triggers quickly.

09:15am  ~  I am in a ‘short’ position on my Brent chart, stop loss is 22 pips.

09:55am  ~  I’ve got two Skype calls now before we’re out for the rest of the day so I am now out of the Brent trade. It’s come down nicely after the UTB price reversal and I ahead by +109 pips.

18:00pm  ~  Just got home and I’ve a new neighbour just arrived who wants to see some trading so we’re going to watch my ‘Trade With A Day Job’ chart to see if we can find a quick trade.

18:25pm  ~  I am currently in a ‘long’ trade with a manageable 21 pip stop loss.

19:40pm  ~   We slipped upto the Lord Nelson for a quick pint and on getting back my trade had got to +68 pips so it’s now closed.  A reasonable total of +177 pips for the day.