daytrading oct 11 afternoon

Thanks Gttrain. Nice work this morning.

Half-time round-up:

Shares declined for a second day before paring losses as a jump in the unemployment rate boosted expectations for another rate cut next month.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 11 points or 0.25% in the red at 4479 but well off the morning's four-day low of 4460. Rallies in financials +0.1% and defensive sectors, including telecoms +0.6%, health +0.3% and utilities +0.1%, helped balance declines in metals & mining -1.2% and industrials -0.6%.

The market was already recovering before the 11.30am EST release of September employment figures added fuel to the rebound. The dollar bounced and equities jumped as economists tried to make sense of a 32,000 increase in full-time jobs and a spike in the unemployment rate to 5.4% from 5.1% in August.

"It doesn't make the story any clearer, with a decent rise in employment, but unemployment up as well," CBA chief economist Michael Blythe told Fairfax. "The overall impression when we smooth all these trends out is it's still a pretty soft labour market... Given some of the global concerns that are still playing out the risks still point to lower rates. We think we'll see another move [down] in November."

Asian markets were soft after Japanese machinery orders declined and Standard and Poor's this morning cut Spain's credit rating. Shanghai retreated 0.57%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.18% and Japan's Nikkei 0.39%. Dow futures were recently down 11 points or 0.1%.

Crude oil futures edged down five cents this morning to US$91.34 a barrel. Spot gold was $4.80 weaker at US$1,759.80 an ounce. The dollar was buying $US1.0253.


This market is not ready to quit. A nice long tail to yesterday's XJO candle and again today indicate plenty of interest in buying dips. Those curious jobs numbers didn't do any harm. I sat down last night and took a cold, hard look at my recent trading after suffering some heavy losses in recent times. Came out of it with some insights to apply over the next few months. Struck me that I'm still trading like its 2008/09, relying on volatility that just isn't there often enough. Aiming to include more short-term trades rather than pure day trades. Made a cautious start this morning with WPG: four-day retrace, diminishing volume, and little selling interest at current levels. Will look to add if/when it turns higher. Also got some TTE. Missed the low in ABU by a nose. As for pure day trades, SIR and LYC provided some welcome scalping action this morning.