Neville Chamberlain "peace for our time"

So the EU have done a deal whereby the bailout monies will go directly to the struggling banks rather than it becoming the individual country's debt. While the deal is welcome, it's still just a plaster on a deep wound.

Don't get me wrong, I really hope Ireland benefits from this but to listen to the Taoiseach and Tánaiste on the radio, you would think they secured the country's future. They are acting as if they got this deal for Ireland themselves - but it's all because of the likes of Spain who simply can't pay. I reckon Enda Kenny is just as surprised as anyone that Merkel allowed this but I suppose he has to make political capital out of it and pretend he had a part in it. I think RTÉ'S headline was a bit over the top:

It's not as if Ireland has secured anything - we might benefit from a deal made in the EU. Big deal. It kinda reminds me of Neville Chamberlain getting off the plane with the Anglo-German agreement where he declared that they had secured 'peace for our time'.  All this just before World War Two of course:

I digress.

The markets have reacted positively to the news with a rise across most big indices and a spike in the Euro vs the US dollar:

However, while the above 15 minute chart looks positive, the longer term charts show that it's not really a big rise at all. Here's the daily EURO/USD chart:

As I say, I hate to be negative and I really hope the deal saves Ireland a few quid - but you have to be realistic and a number of European countries are still up shit creek.

**

I got stopped out for a loss on my S&P gap trade yesterday. Looking back, I'm kinda annoyed with myself for even making the trade. The gap trade should only be done on quiet days so it was a bit silly to do it on a day where there is a big meeting. I justified the trade yesterday by saying it was only a small few quid; but pennies make pounds and all these losses add up. The loss was less than €20 but if I'm honest, I broke my own rules and have to make a note of that and try not to do it again.

With regard to the horseracing, I can't find any good back bets for today. I'm working on tomorrow's Irish Independent article and might have spotted one or two for tomorrow though. I've two inplay trades for today although I must admit that I'm still worried about them as they are only around €50 in profit at this stage (having been up around €300 a while back):

Anyway, I better get back to my article - best of luck with your trading/betting today.