Eoin Treacy's view Having doubled up on my Treasury bond short at a not very good price last Friday, I took the profit on that second position today during the sell-off in response to the better than expected jobs report. Accordingly, I bought December T-Bonds at 131.18 early this afternoon (BST) against my short sale at 132.39 on 31st August. I may reopen this trade in the event of top extension and I retain my rollover December short opened at 134.608.

I had a tight breakeven stop on my gold long because it had been purchased at the upper side of the range. This was triggered at $1239.7 in a sudden downdraught this afternoon against my purchase at $1240.2 on 26th August.

Prices above include each way spread-bet dealing costs of .04 for bonds and 60¢ for gold.

There are fewer enduring trends in these choppy markets and short-term paper profits can be reversed quickly. This makes trading less profitable, temporarily, at least for me. However I maintain that it has been a good environment for acquiring attractively valued investment assets, mainly during stock market setbacks.

An trading exception to the overall ranging could be the grain and bean complex, about which we have written at length in recent months. This afternoon I purchased wheat, paying $7.304 for a December position, including a 1¢ spread-bet dealing cost. I now have long positions in corn, rough rice and wheat.