08:05am Another day planned here in my home office catching up on emails and also doing some chart watching from time to time, any trades I find will be reported below in my Trading Diary.
Market Update:
Markets are still being affected by the U.S. North Korean stand-off and this sentiment put the Dow Jones 30 index under pressure yesterday, it closed down 36 points although the wider S&P-500 was less affected and it ended virtually flat at the end of Wednesday’s session. Understandably there was a move towards safe haven investments so the Swiss Franc rose through the day and Gold advanced over $16.00 to end the session at $1277.10 and has actually touched the $1280 level earlier this morning before some profit-taking.
The overnight Asian trading session continued to be affected by North Korean rhetoric early on although experts are doubting whether Kim Jong-un will actually follow through on his brave words so there has been some recovery in stock prices in the last few hours of trading before the close. This morning’s European trading session has began in negative territory although the FTSE-100′s early losses are mainly due to the amount of stocks going ex-dividend today.
Crude oil is starting to look more bullish and this sentiment is mainly due to the announcement yesterday that there was a surprising fall in U.S. stocks, there was a weekly drop of 6.5 million barrels against an expectation of 2.7 million and this has occurred despite higher output by U.S. companies. WTI Crude rose 70 cents yesterday to close the day at $49.68 and is trading at that level this morning although oil traders I have spoken to in the last 12 hours are finding it hard to believe the price is going to go above the $50 in the near future.
Trading Diary:
09:15am I have just entered a ‘short’ position on my U.S. S&P-500 1hr chart, it’s a Master-The-Trend Strategy-B pattern and my stop loss is 33 pips which is about average for this timeframe.
09:35am Nothing much to see on any of my other ‘favourite’ charts so I am off for a cycle ride for the next hour or so.
12:10pm The S&P-500 has come down (eventually) quite well and I have now just closed off my position at +42 pips.
13:15pm Now in another ‘short’ trade, it’s another Master-The-Trend set-up but a Strategy-A pattern this time. It’s on my FTSE-100 chart and the stop loss is a more reasonable 11 pips, not sure how long I’ll be in the position as the U.S. trading session open is imminent and we could experience some volatility.
14:50pm The FTSE price is becoming quite volatile (as expected) so I am now out of my position with a quick 25 pip profit. I happy with my +67 pip profit for the day so I am switching off my screens for the day – back here tomorrow for the last trading day of the week.
08:15am I am back in front of my charts today after my holiday and also catching up on a shed-load of emails that have come in while I have been away.
Market Update:
Markets are being dominated by the stand-off between the U.S. and North Korea and the war of words between the two countries after a leaked report seems to show that the North Korean government has developed small nuclear warhead that will fit inside its missiles and is threatening to fire at the U.S. outpost of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. Trump’s reaction is a counter threat to fire back with ‘fire and fury of the likes never seen before’ so traders are watching news feeds with interest and losing interest in buying at the moment although understandably there has been a small surge in the Gold price in the past 12 hours and investors move towards safe haven products.
Before these latest occurrences, the Dow Jones 30 index hit another high at 22,179.50 before retreating backwards although my daily chart has become oversold very quickly which suggests some further bullish moves today/tomorrow – this will depend on a large part on the rhetoric from the White House and Pyongyang in the next 48 hours. Asian markets overnight were understandably subdued as these latest developments are happening on their doorstep and only the Australian stock exchange showed any optimism by the close of the session, the ASX-200 closed up 20.49 points (+0.35%)
Europe is also opening this morning slightly in the red although the London FTSE-100 has just recovered some of its initial losses. There is not much economic news been announced today to help market direction apart from the weekly Crude Oil Inventories numbers this afternoon so prices will probably be news driven for most of the European/U.S. session today. WTI Crude is now trading largely sideways after rising to the $50 level last week but we may some direction later today after we see how much oil stock the U.S. has been holding in the past week. The U.S. benchmark is currently sitting at $49.02 with my Daily chart hinting at a small move up before the end of the week.
Trading Diary:
09:45am Nothing much to see on my collection of favourite charts at the moment so I am off for a cycle ride in the rain.
14:30pm Just back from lunch and nothing yet on my charts worth trading, equity markets have not really settled down yet and we are still waiting for the Crude Oil Inventories announcement so it could be a quiet afternoon.
15:10pm Markets still all over the place so I am going to close off my charts for the day and return at the normal time tomorrow morning.
08:45am This is my last trading day of the month as I am off for a 2nd honeymoon this afternoon so any trades I find this morning will be detailed in my Trading Diary below. I will be back trading on Tuesday 8th August.
Market Update:
U.S. equity markets have consolidated after some good gains on the back of encouraging tech company results this week, the rises in share values have prompted a lot of traders to start taking profits which has resulted in falls for some indices. The S&P-500 closed down 0.10% at 2475.42 and futures have a current level showing at 2468.90 after hitting a low at 2459.50 but the Dow Jones 30 index did buck the trend slightly and came in at +85 points.
The overnight Asian trading session reflected this pessimism with equity markets across the board coming in with negative figures and the U.S. Dollar is strengthening against local currencies which has also had an impact. The European session is starting this morning in the same vein with the DAX-30, CAC-40 and FTSE-100 all lower at the moment. Oil is continuing to show strength on news of declining U.S. crude stocks, WTI Crude closed yesterday at $49:12 (+44 cents) and is closing in on the significant $50 level once again. Gold has had a fairly volatile week although it has gradually risen in value and has once hit the significant $1260 level but seems to be indicating that a fall from this resistance could be coming up today.
Trading Diary:
08:55am Just entered a ‘long’ trade on my Brent Crude 15-min chart, it’s a Master-The-Trend Strategy-A set-up with a 20 pip stop loss.
10:20am I have been called out on a bit of an emergency by a friend so I have brought my stop loss upto -10 pips and set the target at +20 pips. I will update you later when I’m back home.
13:30pm Just arrived back home to find my position has been closed at its target of +20 pips.
Off soon on holiday so no further trading today.
08:20am I have multiple meetings here at home today but inbetween those I will also be watching my charts from time to time for trading opportunities. Any positions I take will be detailed below in my Trading Diary.
Market Update:
Main market news yesterday was the U.S. Federal Reserve keeping their minimum lending rate at 1.25% which was not a great surprise but nevertheless helped the Dow Jones 30 index to close at record levels once again although the wider S&P-500 did end the session flat despite a bullish move earlier in the day. The other big driver of the equity markets are better than expected corporate results and with more companies reporting towards the end of this month we should should see further highs in all U.S. equity markets.
The Federal Reserve has also stated their intention to reign in their stimulus programme and also begin to ‘normalize their balance sheet’ which traders took as a signal that conditions were right to safely predict growth in the countries economy.
The overnight Asian trading session was equally as bullish as traders felt optimistic after the Fed’s earlier decision with all markets closing in positive territory and the start of this morning’s European session is also fairly positive although Germany’s DAX-30 index is lagging slightly in the past hour. Traders are still optimistic regarding the crude oil market with many analysts predicting a rise towards the $50 level for U.S. WTI Crude – it is currently sitting at $48:61 after rising 20 cents yesterday.
Trading Diary:
11:35am Just entered a ‘long’ position on my DAX-30 15-min chart, it’s a UTB price-reversal pattern and my stop loss is 14 pips.
11:55am I have now come out of my DAX position, the market is quite volatile and the trade has achieved +20 pips which I am more than happy with.
15:40pm The main equity markets are all over the place this afternoon and oil markets just going sideways so I am switching off my charts and finishing my trading for the day, back early tomorrow morning for the last trading day of the week.
08:45am Another quiet day at home planned catching up on emails and watching my screens from time to time for possible trading opportunities. Any positions I take will be detailed below.
Market Update:
Markets on the whole are treading water ahead of the U.S. interest rate decision later today after a 2-day FOMC meeting to decide on future policy. The general consensus is for the committee to keep rates on hold and this has already been priced into the markets so any deviation will cause some unwanted volatility but first we will have lower trading volumes as traders sit on their hands today watching closely for hints from people close to the Fed decision.
U.S. markets ended Tuesday’s session mainly up on positive earnings which are coming in better than commentators were expecting and the rising oil price is also helping with WTI Crude rising above the significant $47.00 level on hopes of declining stocks. Today sees the weekly U.S. crude oil inventory level announcement and expectations are for a drop of around 3 million barrels and trading volumes are already lower than normal ahead of the announcement as traders do not want to be caught on the wrong side of a trade. U.S. WTI Crude rose $2.08 yesterday to close at $48.52 but is slightly down this morning at $48.33 as investors adjust positions and get into cash before this afternoon’s numbers release.
Asian markets also had a positive overnight session on hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep rates on hold and this morning’s European trading session is starting in the same vein with rises across most major bourses.
Trading Diary:
09:35am Just entered a ‘short’ position on my GOLD 15-min chart, it’s a Master-The-Trend strategy-A set-up with an 11 pip stop loss.
11:20am Been out on an extended cycle ride and upon my return I have just noticed that my GOLD position has been stopped out at -11 pips.
15:00pm There is quite low volume in most of the major markets I keep an eye on ahead of the Fed’s rate announcement later today so I am switching off my screens for the day, back here tomorrow morning at the usual time – no further trades to report.
08:55am Nice relaxed start to my first day back tradign after my honeymoon – I am planning to be at home for most of the day catching up on a mountain of emails and also doing some chart watching from time to time. Any trades I have will be reported below.
Market Update:
U.S. equity markets closed mostly down yesterday ahead of earning’s season where over 180 companies in the S&P-500 are reporting latest revenues in the next few weeks although the Nasdaq finished up as optimism is riding high for tech companies to come in with positive profit announcements. Traders are also waiting for the Federal Reserve’s rate announcement tomorrow afternoon, most traders are expecting a hold after a rise at the previous meeting – expectations are still for at least one more rise before the end of the year.
The overnight Asian trading session ended rather more mixed by the close a few hours ago, with the main indices finishing flat to lower with the Australian ASX-200 bucking the trend and closing up by 0.65% (+37 points) after large rises in industrial and healthcare shares. The Gold price was holding steady yesterday after hitting a small resistance area at $1258 which was a high for July but we are seeing some profit taking this morning and the price has now fallen to $1252.90 although movement could be limited until the FOMC announces their decision tomorrow.
Oil prices were up slightly yesterday on news that Saudi Arabia will slow exports from August and OPEC are putting pressue on certain members to fall into line with previously agreed production cuts. U.S. WTI Crude is at $46.44 at the moment, up from last night’s close of $46.34 and the price looks to be heading for the small resistance area at $47.00.
Trading Diary:
09:25am I entered a ‘long’ position on my S&P-500 15-min chart a short while ago, it was a Master-The-Trend Strategy-B set-up with an 18 pip stop loss. My chart is showing that trading volumes are quite low so not sure how long the trade will last, I will keep a closer than usual eye on the position due to the situation.
11:20am My S&P position is doing ok so far, so I am staying in for a bit longer - it is currently sitting at +19 pips.
14:35pm The S&P-500 price has risen well over the past few hours but it is now coming down slightly so I am out of my position with a +68 pip profit.
09:40am I am back from my honeymoon and slowly getting back to normal life here at home but no chart watching today – I will be back in front of my charts tomorrow.
08:35am Wedding over and off on our honeymoon this coming weekend and I am at home for the rest of the week relaxing and NOT watching any charts, so no trading diary at the moment.
Market Update:
U.S. markets surged once again yesterday and the Dow Jones 30 index hit another record high before retreating slightly to finish up by 130 points as trading closed at lunchtime ahead of the Independence Day holiday today. Bank stocks were the main driver of this bullish sentiment with Goldman Sachs contributing the most to the rise with traders moving out of tech stocks and into financials, the Nasdaq index closed down 30 points (-0.49%) at 6110.26. With U.S. markets closed today for their bank holiday expect the European session to quieter than normal with lower trading volumes.
The overnight Asian session was dominated by news North Korea has fired yet another test missile which is reported to have landed within waters close to Japan and within their exclusive economic zone and this has had a negative impact on trading across the region with all the main indices closing in negative territory except for the Australian ASX-200. Oil markets saw some profit taking by traders early this morning after an 8-day run of rises as positions were closed ahead of the Independence Day holiday, U.S. WTI Crude hit a high of $47.09 before retreating back and is now sitting at $46.86 and price action on the Daily chart is suggesting the possibility of further price falls.
Gold touched a small support area at $1220 yesterday and staged a small bullish price reversal which supported by safe-haven buying after the North Korean missile test, it has fallen steadily now for the last month from a high of $1295 but we could see some consolidation now as it tests the strength of the aforementioned $1220 level.
08:20am Off soon for my ‘Wedding Weekend’ so no trading today (or Market Update) but will be back here on Tuesday.
08:20am Another day away from my charts as I prepare for the big day on Saturday.
Market Update:
U.S. markets surged yesterday and the S&P-500 index had its best day in two months as bank stocks lead the bullish sentiment. It was announced that the major U.S. banks passed Fed stress tests plus are returning record amounts to shareholders and this news bolstered optimism across all sectors as traders see this as a sign of a positive future for the financial sector. The Asian session benefited from this and virtually all indices in the region closed ahead and traders also took comfort from various central banker’s comments thorough the day which all pointing to renewed strength in most global economies.
Oil also has a positive session after the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced that crude stocks rose just over 118,000 barrels during the last seven days but the weekly production dropped to 9.3 million barrels per day a reduction of around 100,000 – this was the biggest drop in the weekly output numbers since summer 2016. The news bolstered crude price once again and WTI Crude closed Wednesday’s session at $44:90 (+$1:38) and is still climbing higher as the European session gets underway this morning, it is now at $45:10 although we could see a small decline at the 20-day moving average.
The current U.S. Dollar weakness is having a positive effect on Gold as it makes dollar-denominated gold cheaper for holders of other currencies and this usually creates an increase in demand although equity strength has trumped this as we begin the European trading session, it is down by $5:80 at $1246:60 at the moment after staging a bearish reversal at its 20-day moving average.
