Day of action

Will it drop?

The volume spike worked as a signal. Even though the Dow opened higher on Monday it retreated and ended very slightly lower. Then yesterday there was a sharp move down at the open but some recovery as the day went on. Nevertheless we are down since Friday's spike. But it is not very dramatic and the futures market is banking on a further rise at the open today.

The other thing to notice is that, for over a month, the wild daily movements in price have subsided. Instead we have had a slow but steady 4.7% climb in a month of trading. So there was a slightly late Santa Clause rally. And it could be that we are in the rally that usually accompanies an presidential election.

All this suggests I should consider dramatically changing my strategy and approach. That is what I plan to do with one eye over my shoulder. I actually opened a short on the Dow yesterday when the market opened. I shall close that, lickedy split. Not much lost. Then I have a plan to buy UK shares that are trading in channels and are near the bottom. At present there are not so many of those because of a month of rises. But there are a few and I shall buy a selection and see how the strategy works.You may recall that the idea is loosely based on the successful scheme favoured by my friend who watches just a few shares and buys low and sells high. The shares I have picked are (and remember I am not recommending these or any other investments - I know no more about what is going on than you do) PZC ROR SVS SHP TALK TATE ULVR WEIR MRW

Time to take profits

Since I finished writing this the FTSE has started to drift downwards and the future on the Dow has weakened. Let's hope I made my choices well. So far I'm breaking even after costs.

In the mean time I took some profit on the back of the sharp spike in silver prices.

So at last, a day of action.