daytrade diaries... july 14 part 2

Half-time round-up:

Boom. Australian shares had their best morning in more than a month, led by strong gains in miners, financials and property trusts.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was up 100 points or 2.68% at 3837, almost wiping out last week's losses. The metals & mining sector and property trusts topped the risers at +3.4%, followed by materials (3.3%) and financials (3.0%). Cochlear sneaked out a profit downgrade - smart timing.

Asian markets recovered yesterday's steep losses. The Nikkei rose 2.22% and the Hang Seng 1.93%. Dow futures were recently at -3. Gold futures slipped $1.80 to $918.20. Crude oil has broken back above $60, currently trading at $60.07.

Today's one of those rare days when you could have made money buying almost any of the blue chips at the open - but not as much as you feel you should. I've done okay on WBC. Had unfilled buy orders in on IAG, CVN and AFI - should have been more aggressive. Also used this bounce as a 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card on yesterday's fuzzy-headed buy of MAP. Out for a small profit. ILU keeps grinding out that saucer bottom.

Overnight holds: The charts suggest there should be some follow-through buying from this big rally tomorrow but I'm wary because the bounce doesn't seem to be built on much. There's a lot riding on the Goldman Sachs profit result tonight and I have no idea how that will play out, therefore it makes no sense to wager much on it. Some of today's star turns have come off a bit in the last hour but for the bullish, possible overnight holds would include RBM (3rd run at the 2.1 resistance level), SLA provided it doesn't pull back much further and BUY if it holds into the close.