Monday 1st August

Hi all,

returned from a short break last week and ready for a bit more market action.

It would take a brave man to forecast price action this week with the US debacle continuing.

The issue for me is that i very much doubt the US will default, and when they announce the latest measure to kick the can down the road the markets will rise sharply. Iexpect the FTSE to be back to 5950 within a day or so of any announcement.

The problem is how to take advantage of it. I know the Government are keen to get a deal done before Asian marrkets open, around midnight our time. If say a deal is done this evening and we don't trade until tomorrow morning we miss some of the potential profits, and i really do think they are easy profits, at least for a couple of days.

So the plan is now (Sunday evening) to keep an eye on the news. If no deal is done by bedtime i'll set some orders to hopefully kick in overnight. Until later....

Eur/Chf gapped up on open,initially a sign that we are risk on again, but has started to drift south again. Dollar looking strong against the other major pairs. Could be more pressure on the indices here, pre-open.

1 - short eur/usd, 1.4365. Stop @ 1.4383. No target, see if we can profit from a flight to the dollar in the Asian session.   Base stake * 0.1. Tiny stakes here and a tight stop as i want to avoid losses due to any sudden moves up.

2 - set the following buy order:

Ftse long @ 5675. Base stake * 0.6. Stop 5610. Target 5995.

5-45am - order not hit as FTSE has rocketed.

3 - euro trade stop hit for £-25. Broke one of my rules there, trading a non FTSE/Dow. Should know better.

5-48am. FTSE long at 5890. Base stake * 0.6. Out for most of today so all i can do is go long now even though not the best entry point.  Target 5995.  FTSE should surge up after 8AM, and be carried up further by the Dow in the PM.

Set a new order of the following, to take advantage of any dips:

Ftse long @ 5879. Base stake * 0.4.  Target 5995.

4 - 8PM. Both trades well under water but i am holding for what i think and hope has been the bottom. Further vote imminent in Yankee land. Stops just below todays lows.

Not enjoying this trade. I set stupid stops well off the entry price and exposed myself to undue risk. Can't tolerate having a sleepless night so closed the trade during the US conference at 5805 for a loss of £416.

That has wiped out a condiserable chunk of my good profits since i started trading in July.

learned a big lesson today. Exposed myself to too much risk, was away from trading due to other commitments and not able to monitor the markets so should have limited risk.  Poor show and have learned a tough lesson.

No more trading this week, and have liquidated my other longs apart from Range Resources. Have serious worries about the markets now.

Will be back soon, hopefully next week.