Markets Thaw As Miners Lead The Rally

Sterling fought back after yesterday’s beating, and once again FTSE turned its nose up at the 4000 level, rallying back above its 14-day moving average.

You know when you’re following ‘the world’s safest driver’ for mile after mile? You decide to relax, listen to the Killers and take in the scenery. Then, whoosh! the car behind had spotted the only overtaking stretch in miles and you’re caught flat in fifth gear.

That was me today. The morning session was so dull I managed a quick gym and took my youngest ’snow-boarding’. And when the pattern didn’t look like changing I resigned myself to a day of no-dealing. In fact I congratulated myself a few times for not being suckered into boredom trades that would ultimately have cost me money.

I tend to favour trading the trend, rather than the range and, up until 2.15 this afternoon, all my markets were stuck in a range. I earmarked a break above $1.4266 (the daily pivot point) to get interested in GBP/USD and breaks either side of £0.90-.9085 to trade EUR/GBP. This meant I missed a red-hot buy signal from my chart, the break above the moving average, combined with a positive MACD.

But rather than leap into action, I waited to see if the break of $1.4266 held; this was sensible as, until then, the price had retreated from the top of the range. However, this time saw the price gap up to $1.4284, then $1.4314 before pulling back to just below the big figure.

I paid $1.4292 for a £2 bet, but with the price flying around like my wife’s undies in the tumble-dryer I decided on a small, but guaranteed profit. After watching the price fail again at $1.4314 I closed out at $1.4303 as the price returned below $1.43. Soon after that Sterling rallied, first to ‘20, then ‘30 and finally pushed ahead to $1.4390.

I should have consoled myself with a few quid in my back pocket, but I blew it on a short FTSE bet at 4118. I’m offside but happy to run it for the time being. My other short bets are less profitable today but still in place.

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