07:45am (UK time)  ~  I am here watching charts and catching up on emails this morning and then clay pigeon shooting this afternoon.

European equities are generally bullish despite the fact that there is still no agreement between the EU and Greece over their repayment of debts. It seems as though there is still a stalemate with just a week left before the deadline although leaked comments seem to suggest that a deal will be done with markets also believing this outcome, the two sides are meeting again today in Brussels. There was good news across the Atlantic yesterday as U.S. employment figures released showed that more people were in employment but this still failed to keep their equity markets up as the Fed’s bearish outlook for the economy trumped the jobs numbers.

Crude oil had a surprising jump in price despite the fact that U.S. stocks of crude have risen against expectations, they now have over 425 million barrels in stock, a rise of nearly 8 million barrels on last week. These figures should dampen any price rise but WTI Crude ended up over $2 at $52.18 with UK Brent Crude up a similiar amount.

Gold was in a bullish mood for the first part of yesterday’s session on news that the Fed was keeping rates lower for longer than expected but some profit taking came in later and it finished the session down nearly $6 at $1206.5 although it seems as though the $1200 support level is holding at the moment – it’s slightly up after the overnight Asian session at $1207.7

Market Close Thursday 19th February 2015:   Dow Jones 30  -44.08 @ 17,985.77  S&P 500  -2.23 @ 2,097.45  NASDAQ  +20.95 @ 4,411.86  FTSE 100  -9.18 @ 6,888.90  UK AIM  +0.93 @ 709.49  DAX 30  +40.94 @ 11,001.94  CAC 40  +34.25 @ 4,833.28  IBEX  +105.10 @ 10,910.40   Nikkei 225 (Today)  +67.51 @ 18,332.30  Hang Seng (currently)  +47.20 @ 24,832.30

08:10am  ~  All quiet on my charts at the moment so I’m going to take this opportunity to have a quick cycle ride along the beach path.

10:25am ~  Back now and I can see a possible ‘short’ trendFX trade setting up on my WTI Crude chart.

10:40am  ~  I am now in a ‘short’ position with a “whopping” 18 pip stop loss.

11:55am  ~  I am now out of the trade, the price has stalled for the last 30 minutes around the $51.50 support level so I came out at +20 pips. Going up the road to the farm now to see if the wind/rain is too bad for shooting this afternoon so charts off for a while.

15:00pm  ~  Back home now, problems are preventing clay pigeon shooting today so I shall be here in the study this afternoon doing emails and some chart watching.

18:55pm  ~  Not done any chart watching so far this afternoon as friends arrived unexpectedly but I am going to switch on my S&P 500 chart now while I cook everyone supper and see if there’s any ‘Trade With A Day Job” opportunities.

19:50pm  ~  In a ‘long’ TWADJ position with a 15 pip stop loss.

20:35pm  ~  Just come out of the trade with a +51 pip profit – a nice end to a profitable week.