daytrade diaries... december 29 part 2

Half-time round-up:

Australian shares hit their highest level in two months this morning as the local "Santa Claus rally" stretched into a fourth session.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 57 points or 1.22% higher at 4849, just 10 points short of the 2009 closing high of 4859 set in October. A broad rally lifted all sectors. The biggest gains were among consumer staples +1.7%, utilities +1.5% and telecoms +1.4%. Financial stocks rallied 1.3% and the miners were up 1.3%.

Asian markets were mixed in early trade. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.03%, Shanghai rose 0.18% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.3%. Dow futures were at -2.

The spot gold price lost some ground this morning, slipping nearly $5 to $1,101.90 an ounce. Crude oil futures edged 4 cents higher at $78.75 a barrel.


Another predictably quiet session. Took profits on RRS from Thursday - may have more in it but I'm closing positions before a holiday next week. Also scalped SFH off its lows after a whiff of institutional buying. Spent the rest of the morning reading the Michael Lewis-edited "Panic", a highly entertaining review of the last four stock market crashes (1987, the Asia/Russia crisis of the late 90s, the dot.com collapse and the recent sub-prime scare). A useful reminder that there's nothing new under the sun and there's always money to be made - and lost - when the herd runs.