Read your notes. Tue Feb 16

I completely forgot to check the reporting calendar yesterday despite copious notes to do so, otherwise I would have seen that One Steel was due to report this morning. The result was very good and despite general unease about the outlook for steel companies - can they push through price increase when their input costs surge with the iron ore price - the market has pushed the stock up 6% to 341.

Compounding my irritation, as I noted in the blog yesterday, there was a reasonable chance of another minor high. Here's the 60 minute chart showing the correction. The lows yesterday held above the highs from the leg up on the 10th February so that was a reasonably good sign.

Click to enlarge

Resistance is around 346-350 and the stock has been as high as 345 this morning so we'll see how it goes.

Overall the index is up a healthy 1% thanks largely to Westpac whose strong report has lifted them about 5% and has dragged the rest of the banking sector up too.

3.21 Back in the office after some external business. The early strong gains are evaporating although Ost is still up at 340. I've bought back 5,000 Cgf at 368 for a small profit of 368 against yesterday's sale at 373.25.

Once again the Xjo index went all the way up to resistance and failed so I'm still looking for lower levels. I would like to see the pattern complete soon. I think there'll be easier gains on the bullish retracements and for the moment I'm largely sitting on my hands.

4.01 I'm short 10k of Transfield at 377. I've been bearish this for a while but squared up when it started to go into a congestion phase. I think it has completed a weak a-b-c retracement and I'll look to short the other 10k tomorrow on confirmation, especially if it sells below 375 on reasonable volume.

4.27 The Xjo index rose 22 points. I'm short Cgf which fell 3 to 368, Ost which rose 18 to 340 and Tse which closed at 375.