08:10am   Instead of chart watching to day it has been decided a family day out at the coast would be more preferable so my trading for the week is now finished.  Back here next Tuesday after the bank holiday break.

Market Update:

U.S. equity markets closed slightly down last night despite good results from the retail sector, traders are still wary of taking large positions ahead of today’s Jackson Hole meeting of global central bankers so there will not be much movement in the indices until later tonight after various press conferences have been held.  The overnight Asian market looked more optimistic though and all major bourses finished ahead on the day with the Shanghai Composite coming in as a clear winner at +1.45%. There was no clear drivers of this bullish sentiment but traders report a general feel of optimism for the 3-day meeting at Jackson Hole as central bankers have a chance to talk to one another and hopefully agree on a common theme for the world economy.

The oil market is looking more bullish overnight as Hurricane Harvey is approaching the main oil production area in the Gulf of Mexico bringing potential supply disruption to Crude Oil stocks. U.S. WTI Crude oil dropped 74 cents yesterday to close at $47:60 after touching a daily low of $47:04 but is slightly up at the moment at $47:71.  Gold has been moving mainly sideways this week after touching a recent high at $1300 last Friday, yesterday’s session ended negatively but the daily chart is showing some bullishness this morning. Current price is $1286:65 and is expected to rise slightly through the morning.

08:25am   Quiet day planned at home catching up on emails and putting the final touches to my new eBook on trading with the 200 Moving-Average which is out next week.  I will also be watching my charts for trade set-ups from time to time and any positions I take will be detailed below in my Trading Diary.

Market Update:

Yesterday’s U.S. trading session closed in negative territory after a good run on Tuesday prompted traders to take some profits off the table plus President Trump’s comments regarding a government shut-down over his Mexican Wall project weighed on sentiment – the S&P index of the leading 500 companies closed at 2444.04, down by 8.47 points with the narrower Dow Jones 30 closing down by a similar percentage.

The overnight Asian session bucked Wednesday’s trend and finished mostly up as traders shrugged off the negative sentiment in the U.S but this morning’s European trading session has opened mixed, there was some initial buying but this has not lasted and sellers are entering the market although volumes are still low due to August holidays. Traders are also watching for significant news out of tomorrow’s Jackson Hole meeting of global central bankers where they should give clues regarding future monetary policy. For more trading insights, you can also look into this best options subscription service.

Oil prices rose well yesterday and are holding steady this morning on falling U.S. inventories plus potential disruption in output due to an impending tropical storm coming in across the Gulf of Mexico. WTI Crude rose 73 cents on Wednesday to close at $48:35 and is broadly the same at the moment.  Gold is still coming off the $1295 high as geo-political worries subside, although it had a good session yesterday as equities slipped slightly – it rose $5.50 to close at $1290.55 last night but is down this morning at $1287.20.

Trading Diary:

09:40am   I have opened a ‘long’ position on my S&P-500 chart, it’s a Master-The-Trend Strategy-B pattern with a larger than normal stop loss for a 15-min chart of 31 pips.  This is also a ‘short’ trade which has just triggered on my GOLD chart but the S&P-500 and GOLD charts are inversely correlated to a certain extent so there is little point in doubling my risk because if my S&P trade fails there is a good chance that the GOLD one will as well.

Subscribers to my daily Trading Guidance service will note that there is a possibility of the S&P-500 rising today so this gives extra weight to my decision.

10:15am    All quiet on the rest of my charts and the S&P position still doing ok so off for a cycle ride – back in a few hours.

13:55pm   I have just closed off my S&P-500 position at+59 pips.  Happy with the score so far today so switching off my charts now.

08:25am   I had planned to be at home today doing some chart watching but I’ve been invited out for the day by my neighbour to a livestock auction so no trading for me until tomorrow.

Market Update:

U.S. equity markets surged ahead yesterday and the Dow Jones had its biggest one day rise since April at almost +1% as tech stocks rose and traders were optimistic about corporate tax reform which has been long promised by President Trump. There were rumours yesterday that key lawmakers together with some members of the Trump administration had found some common ground to move forward with tax policy changes.  The S&P-500 climbed 24 points to close at 2452.51 but is slightly down this morning in futures trading at 2449.85 as the price reversed at the 20-day moving average.

The overnight Asian trading session started well on the back of U.S. stock market gains but slowly waned into the morning as the U.S. Dollar lost ground although the Japanese Nikkei 225 index did manage a small rise by the close of just 0.23%.  Trading on the Hang Seng index was halted shortly after the open on concerns about the tropical cyclone Hato approached the colony, it was estimated at a number 10 cyclone signal which is the most severe.  This morning’s European trading session kicked off negatively but some buyers have come into the market and indices are slightly ahead now overall but waiting for ECB President Mario Draghi’s speech which is coming up in a few minutes.

Crude Oil markets should have a busy afternoon as we have the weekly U.S. Inventories number out at 15:30pm UK time. There is an expectation for a rise in U.S. stocks and there is also concerns over increasing production from Libya as they start to export more crude after many years of internal conflict and regime change.  WTI Crude closed flat yesterday at $47.60 and is still around that level this morning as traders sit on their hands until this afternoon’s confirmation of inventory numbers.

08:40am   Planning on spending the day here at home catching up on emails and watching my charts from time to time. Any trades I find will be detailed below.

Market Update:

Yesterday’s U.S. trading session ended slightly up although army exercises in South Korea and the Jackson Hole Symposium  has put a lid on any big gains.  Traders are unsure of North Korea’s reaction to the annual U.S./South Korean military exercises designed to show solidarity against Kim Jong-un’s regime so there is no big rush to buy at the moment and Friday’s annual meeting at Jackson Hole, Wyoming of central bankers and other financial policy-makers may throw up some surprises for the markets.

The overnight Asian trading session did not fair much better with equity markets ending mixed although the Hang Seng index did out perform all others by closing up over 1% with the help of property stocks in the region.  This morning’s European session has started fairly optimistically with all major indices showing gains on last night’s close.  Gold rose slightly on Monday as Korean tensions were expected to escalate due to the aforementioned military exercises but U.S. Dollar strength in the past few hours has brought the value down – it is currently trading at $1284.15 against a close last night of $1291.80. We could see a further slide towards the 20-day moving average around $1275.00

Crude oil values have stabilised slightly this morning after large falls on Monday – there have been reports today that the U.S. stock situation is tightening with a drop in oil inventories of around 13% from the highs in March this year. U.S. WTI Crude Oil closed last night at $47:54 but is trading up at $47:81 but any further rises could be capped by the 200-day moving average at $48:15.

Trading Diary:

10:35am    I have just entered two positions, they are both Master-The-Trend Strategy-A set-ups and one is on my Gold 15-min chart and the other is on my German DAX-30 15-min chart. The stop losses are 10 pips and 15 pips respectively.

11:45am    Just got back from a cycle ride and seen my Gold position has been stopped out at-10 pips but my Dax trade is still running.

14:05pm   The DAX price has advanced well and I am more than happy with the current score so I am now out of my position with a +71 pip profit.  My total pips for the day is +61 pips which is sufficient for a morning’s work so I am closing off my screens, I will be back here tomorrow morning.   My total score for August is now +307 pips.

08:00am    Planning a quiet day at home catching up on emails and doing some chart watching from time to time – any trades I find will be detailed below in my Trading Diary.

Market Update:

European markets are opening slightly down this morning following two terrorist attacks in Spain yesterday as tourist/travel related stocks are trading in the red and the overnight Asian trading session also suffered bouts of selling pressure for the same reason. Yesterday’s U.S. session closed down around 1.5% with the Dow Jones 30 index having its largest fall since May this year on concerns over the Trump administration’s ability to push through business-friendly policy changes as Congress is becoming increasingly hostile towards the new president.

Gold is once again benefiting from the fall in equity prices and is closing in on the significant resistance area around $1295 after a positive day’s trading yesterday – it rose $4:40 to close at $1287:70 and is slightly up again this morning at $1293:25.  Look out for bearish trading opportunities if price does reach the resistance level today.  The Crude Oil charts are looking fairly positive this morning after forming a bullish price reversal candle on the daily chart yesterday and also bouncing of the 50-day moving average. U.S. WTI Crude Oil is currently trading at $47:25 and we could see a rise upto the $48:15 level in the short term which coincides with the 200-day moving average.

Trading Diary:

10:10am    Just entered a ‘long’ position on my German DAX-30 chart, it’s on the 30-min timeframe and is a UTB price-reversal pattern  – my stop loss is 19 pips.

12:15pm    Off to lunch soon and happy with the score of my DAX position so I am now out of the trade  -  result is +41 pips.

12:20pm   Turning off my screens now and finishing my trading for the week, I hope you have a nice relaxing weekend and I will be back in front of my charts next Tuesday.

10:20am   Late start today as we have only just got the electricity restored to the house in the past few hours.  I have quite a lot of things to sort out today as a result so no trading today, back in front of my charts tomorrow morning.

08:45am   Another quiet day planned at home so if my chart watching results in any trades I will detail them below in my Trading Diary.

Market Update:

U.S. equity markets closed mainly flat yesterday after a couple of days of gains, with retail stocks keeping any potential rise in check. Retail data released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau was better than expected and this has increased the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will instigate one more rate rise this year, most probably in December according to several polls.  The overnight Asian trading session was more upbeat however as a raft of corporate earning announcements showed that business is currently thriving in the area although the Japanese Nikkei 225 index did succumb to some late selling which resulted in small loss at the close.

The Crude Oil price staged a late rally during yesterday’s trading session as latest figures showed a drop in U.S. Crude Inventories, there was a fall of 9.2 million barrels in the last 7-days to 469.20 million barrels in stock but concerns of a global glut is still going to cap any price rise.  U.S. WTI Crude touched its $47.00 support line and has since bounced back up, it is currently sitting at $47.85 and advancing towards its 200-day moving average at $48.15 – I will send out a chart to subscribers this morning showing potential trading opportunities.

Gold did not quite reach the resistance level at $1295 on Friday and has retreated back to its current level of $1270.60 and looks to be heading to the 20-day moving average at $1266 so watch today for a potential bullish reaction at this level.

Trading Diary:

10:30am    I have just entered a ‘long’ position on my S&P-500 15-min chart, it’s a Master-The-Trend Strategy-A pattern with a 12 pip stop loss.

12:10pm   Nothing much else happening on my charts at the moment  so I am off for a cycle ride.  Keeping the S&P position’s stop loss at 12 pips.

13:20pm    Back home now and seen that my S&P-500 position has been stopped out at -12 pips.

13:30pm    There is a ‘short’ Master-The-Trend trade pattern setting up on the oil charts but it is too close to the Inventories numbers being released to risk a position.

14:10pm   Just got into a ‘long’ position on my FTSE-100 15-min chart, it’s another Master-The-Trend Strategy-A set-up with an 8 pip stop loss.

Update – Thursday 10:30am   Due to an unforeseen power cut yesterday afternoon I was no longer able to post here but I can tell you I closed the above FTSE-100 position off by phone at 17:50pm at +10 pips giving me an overall score for the day of -2 pips.

08:25am   Planning a quiet day at home catching up on emails and doing some chart watching, any trades I take will be detailed below.

Market Update:

Markets are recovering from last week’s brinkmanship between the U.S. and North Korea and it seems as though traders are now willing to shun safe haven investments and pile into equities once again. The S&P-500 had its best day since April and rose 1.00% by the close last night (+24.52 points) with technology stocks leading the bullish moves and the Dow Jones 30 index was up by 0.62% but the tech-centred Nasdaq did best with a +1.34% rise with Tesla, Amazon and Facebook the best performers.

This sentiment transferred across to the overnight Asian trading session where most indices also closed in positive territory with the Japanese Nikkei 225 coming out best (+1.24%) as the North Korean leading seems to be backing down on previous promises to launch a missile strike on the U.S. territory of Guam giving traders reasons to put their buying shoes on once again.  The rise on equities has understandably dampened the buying  of Gold and the precious metal has retreated back from Friday’s high of $1292 to finish last night at $1281.60 and is further down this morning at $1274.95 and looks to be heading for its 20-day moving average.

Crude oil values fell around 2.5% yesterday on Dollar strength as a stronger dollar tends to limit the demand for oil for buyers paying in other currencies and there are also concerns over Chinese demand which is also dampening prices. WTI Crude fell $1.18 by the close last night at $47.48 but is holding fairly steady this morning at $47.50.

Trading Diary:

10:40am   I have just entered a ‘short’ position on my GOLD 30-min chart, it’s a Master-The-Trend Strategy-A pattern with a 14 pip stop loss.

13:10pm    The Gold price has not really been moving down very much this morning but has just suddenly fallen 25 points so I have taken the profit offered and banked a +30 pip score.

13:30pm     Off for a late lunch soon now and I am more than happy with my score so far so I am switching off my charts for the day, back here early tomorrow morning.

08:20am   I have a busy day at home today so not sure how much chart watch I will manage but any trades I do have will be detailed below in my Trading Diary.

Market Update:

After last week’s geo-political unrest and subsequent uneasiness in the markets which resulted in a near 60 point fall in the S&P-500 there does seem to be some optimism returning on trading floors in the past 12 hours. The overnight Asian session ended largely up after encouraging Japanese GDP figures trumped the disappointing Chinese Industrial output although the Nikkei 225 index did close 89 points lower after a fairly high volume trading session.  The European trading session looks to be opening well with most indices up and traders shrugging off last week’s tensions between the U.S. and North Korea as old news and this sentiment is also spilling over to U.S. index futures where the S&P-500 is up over 14 points since midnight.

With equity markets looking more optimistic we could see the rush to Gold slowing slightly, it closed the week on Friday at $1288.70 after hitting an intraday high of $1292.10 but is now trading slightly down at $1282.95. Watch for a minor support level at $1273.00 this week as the price continues to tumble.  Crude oil has fallen down to its 200-day moving average at $48.20 and as predicted on Friday has bounced up slightly so we could see a small rise this week but bear in mind there is a ceiling at $50.25 which could prove to be an insurmountable barrier.

Trading Diary:

11:20am   I have just entered a ‘short’ position on my Brent Crude Oil 15-min chart, it’s a Master-The-Trend Strategy-A pattern with a 15 pip stop loss.

11:55am    Now in my second trade of the morning – it’s another Master-The-Trend Strategy-A set-up but this time on my Gold 15-min chart. My stop loss is smaller this time at just 8 pips.

12:05pm   Just taken a quick 15 pip profit from the Gold position as there is a small amount of volatility entering the market but still in the Brent trade.

14:10pm   I have been out at lunch but back home now and things are getting busy – I have just got into a ‘long’ position on my S&P-500 30-min chart (Master-The-Trend Strategy-A) and my Brent Crude has been stopped out at -15 pips.  My stop loss on the S&P-500 trade is 25 pips, about average for the 30 minute timeframe.

16:05pm   I have really go to get on with some other jobs around the house so I have just closed off my S&P-500 position at +101 pips. The price has made good progress this afternoon but has started to retreat downwards slightly so I have come out of the trade before I lose more points.

08:00am   I am planning to spend this morning at home continuing to catch up on emails plus watch my collection of favourite charts for any trading opportunities – any trades I find will be detailed below.

Market Update:

The North Korean/U.S. situation is persisting with more pessimistic words from President Trump last night and this is continuing to weigh on equity markets around the world, the S&P-500 dropped 1.45% (-35.81 points) by yesterday’s U.S. close and has now dropped below its 50-day moving average which is quite a bearish sign.  The overnight Asian trading session was similarly bearish with all major indices posting negative numbers with the South Korean Kospi index in focus for obvious reasons, it fell 1.71% with Samsung Electronics contributing a maority of the losses.

This morning’s European session has also got off to a slow start with no positive numbers being posted at the moment although in the past few hours the rhetoric from the U.S. seems to be focusing on the fact that diplomatic avenues are seeing small successes in the North Korean situation so if you are trading today watch the news flows from Bloomberg and the BBC for latest news.  Oil markets took a tumble yesterday n over supply concerns, the U.S. WTI Crude fell $1:18 during Thursday’s session to $48:48 and is currently trading slightly lower at $48:19 and right on the 200-day moving average so watch your charts carefully for potential trading opportunities at this level.

Gold has benefited from safe haven purchasing this week and has risen from $1251.00 to its current level of $1285.88 this morning on the back of geo-political worries in Asia and looks to be heading for the next major resistance area at $1295.00, watch for a price reversal around here next week.

Trading Diary:

08:25am   Just entered a ‘short’ position on my Brent Crude Oil 15-min chart, it’s a Master-The-Trend Strategy-A set-up with a 17 pip stop loss.

09:05am   Nothing else to see on my charts at the moment so off for a cycle ride in the sun…

10:55am    Just got back and seen the price on the Brent Crude chart is slowly advancing back upwards so I have just closed my position off at break even as it look as though it’ll hit the stop loss very soon.

 11:55am   I have just entered another Master-The-Trend position, this time on my FTSE-1oo chart.  It’s Strategy-A pattern again with a 9 pip stop loss and I am on the 15-min timeframe.

12:05pm    I am off out for an early lunch with some fellow traders so I have set my take profit level at +9 pips and kept the stop loss at -9 pips.

14:50pm    Back from lunch and I can see my FTSE position has been closed at +9 pips.   Looking through my collection of charts I can see there is a fair amount of volatility now so I am going to start my weekend early and turn my screens off.  I will be back next Tuesday morning.