daytrade diaries... september 3

Morning traders.

Market wrap: Stocks look set to open in the red again this morning after modest falls on overseas equity markets.

Wall Street skipped in and out of positive territory all night before falling away at the close to complete a fourth straight losing session. The Dow lost 0.32%, the S&P fell 0.33% and the Nasdaq 0.09%. European markets pared losses by the close but also finished negative. London lost 0.05%, Paris 0.29% and Frankfurt 0.14%.

The U.S. got off to a shaky start when a report showed jobs are being lost at a faster rate than economists expected. The report is a closely-watched precursor to the government's August employment figures, due on Friday.

Financials were again under the pump, falling 2%. REITs lost 1.94% but there were glimpses of green for oilers, airlines and telecoms. The big gainers overnight were gold miners - the Philadelphia Gold Silver Index of precious metals miners rose a whopping 8.55% after gold futures burst to a three-month high. There were double-digit gains for several miners as the weak jobs report knee-capped the US dollar and sent investors scurrying to alternative investments. Gold futures were recently at $978, up 2.3%.

Government data showing U.S. crude oil inventories declined less than expected last week had little impact on oil futures, virtually unchanged at $67.99. Base metals were mixed. Aluminium lost 3.16%, copper was down 0.73%, zinc -1.78% and nickel -4.08%. Lead gained 0.92% and tin rose 0.18%.

Futures traders maintain this week's negative bias. With 35 minutes left to trade, the SPI futures index was down 14 points at 4422.

TRADING THEMES TODAY:

GOLD: This one's a no-brainer. The big overnight move brings gold back within striking distance of the magical $1000 mark. Will this be the breakout? There will be huge gains for some gold miners at the open. If you're already holding, you're probably in the money. The challenge for traders is finding a miner without all the day's gains baked into the opening price.

PULLBACK CONTINUES: Wall Street took a breather last night but the short-term trend remains negative. Our market could swing either way today as it weighs yesterday's encouraging GDP figures against overseas weakness but there's no sign yet that this pullback is over. Stay nimble and keep some cash available for the turnaround.

Good luck to all.