Chinese state news agency Xinhua said yesterday that the ruling Communist Party might change the rules which limit a president to two consecutive five-year terms in office. Current President Xi Jinping, 64, will officially be elected to his second term when the annual meeting of parliament takes place on March 5th. The news has sparked a backlash on social media, Reuters reports, to which official media sources reacted with a propaganda push today.
This week the Bank of England will wind down its Term Funding Scheme, dreamt up in June 2016 to make sure its Bank Rate cut was passed through to households and small businesses. So far roughly £115.4 billion credit has been extended.
DAX 30
A tiny hanging man/dragonfly doji candle last week above trend line support but below horizontal resistance denotes instability and keeps momentum bearish. Despite Angela Merkel’s cabinet re-shuffle, we will not know if the SDP will agree to form a coalition government with her until this weekend’s postal votes come in.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Small short at 12535; stop well above 12600. Target 11700.
POSITION TAKER: Short at 12650; stop above 12875. First target 12050, then probably more.
FTSE 100
A little hanging man just above horizontal support at 7200 suggests the market is struggling to cling to current levels because the MACD is bearish.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Small short at 7180; stop above 7325. Target 7000.
POSITION TAKER: Short at 7250; stop above 7325. Target the 6675 area.
S&P 500
Another index with a hanging man/dragonfly doji last week, struggling to hold above long term trend line support because the MACD is bearish. Worth noting that over the weekend, in his letter to shareholders, Warren Buffet said his firm, Berkshire Hathaway said his firm hadn’t made any acquisitions in 2017 because of a dearth of ‘sensible’ purchase prices.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Short at 2725; stop above 2755. Target 2555.
POSITION TAKER: Short with a stop above 2750. Target 2455 – and maybe a lot more.
BRITISH POUND/US DOLLAR
Consolidating in a neat triangle above its post-referendum closing price. Now the OBR prepares for another U-turn on UK economic growth just months after a sudden downgrade handing the chancellor another £15 billion windfall, The Telegraph reports.
SHORT TERM TRADER: New long at 1.3975; stop below 1.3800. Target 1.4275.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
EURO/US DOLLAR
Holding close to this year’s high despite a massively uncertain Italian election this coming weekend, and a bail-in for a Latvian bank last weekend, because momentum is bullish.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Small long at 1.2267; stop below 1.2200. Target 1.2500.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
GOLD
The commodity channel index has yet to turn down decisively, possibly because the Russian and Chinese central banks are actively adding to their gold reserves.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Square.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
Nicole Elliott is a long-standing Member of the Society of Technical Analysts and has taken over the IC’s trading coverage. She is regularly interviewed and quoted by the financial media, is a conference speaker, and author of several books on charting.
