The Dow tries to rise but the sellers are out there and Scrummy Chocolate Brownies

Consistency has never been my middle name. My mind jumps about too much and refuses to stay rigidly within the bounds set by rules, especially self imposed ones. I can focus for a while but when my attention is grabbed by something new the best laid plans "gan aft a-gley" (often go awry) as Robert Burns wrote:

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley

An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promised joy.

How appropriate a motto for a stock market trader.

I will however make a valiant effort to draw support lines in green and resistance lines in amber. I will also try to draw important lines and those that are still holding with a thick line and those that have been broken or are less significant with a thin one. Bear in mind that support can turn into resistance and vise versa. So here is the DOW with the new lines drawn in.

You will see that the bulls made a valiant attack on the resistance line but it held and the bears succeeded in pushing them back almost all the way to Wednesday's close. The futures market indicates that a renewed attack on resistance is being mounted overnight. It will be interesting to see how well that turns out. Volume is fading a little.

Chocolate brownies

When my granddaughter comes to call she and my wife make the most delicious brownies 

They melt a 100gm block of chocolate (85% cocoa type) together with 250 gms butter by heating gently in a pan while stirring with a wooden spoon.  

When melted they take it off the heat and stir in 375 ml of caster sugar and mix in well. Then they add 4 eggs,one at a time, beating well. 

Finally they stir in 60 gms plain flour and 100 gms dark chocolate chips.

The mixture goes into an 8 in square baking tin with a removable bottom and is baked for 35 mins at 180 degrees (C). Don't overcook. Remove tin and lift brownies out on the tin's bottom when cool. Cut into squares and DO NOT EAT till next day.

The banks, their cash handouts and the effect on commodity prices

I forgot to mention the latest BBC Radio 4 program about how our money goes to fund all those banker's bonuses. 

This one focuses on the way that the free money that governments give banks through QE ends up inflating the price of all kinds of day to day items such as petrol (gas) at the pump and the tin cans that are used to pack soft drinks. 

It is a sobering story of how these institutions can carry out what would, in the stock market, be seen as insider trading. We all fund their gambling and pay for their profits. Please don't miss this. If you have not listened to the earlier episodes, listen to them too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b038x1ll