#GOLD # NASDAQ There are times when you’ve got to ask if something is real and not just a figment of the stock markets sense of humour. At present. GBPUSD is providing such a level of entertainment, asking us to believe a downtrend, which originates back in October 2007, is genuine, something we should pay close attention to. Despite no less than FOUR signs, we’re just a little sceptical about taking this Blue line seriously.
Out of nowhere, the trend above allegedly confirmed itself in July 2025, doubly confirmed its existence in August of 2025, had the market break out through the trend in January of this year, and experienced the Holy Grail of Breakouts, the market “back testing” the trend last week. This last item, “the backtest”, is an important tenet of faith with the true believers of chart discipline. It bothers us a little as, if it’s true, the market apparently believes Sterling intends strengthen quite considerably against the US Dollar as is using a 19 year old trend trend to measure itself against. This trend, so old it wouldn’t even be included in the Epstein files, obviously bothers us a bit!
When we apply our usual arithmetic to the Blue downtrend, it reveals we should believe future movement above just 1.3790 should bring a strong twitch in the direction of 1.4177. However, a movement such as this would drag the currency pairing into Big Picture territory and this suggests – due to multiple arguments – Sterling should trigger toward a “safe and solid” 1.4307. Glancing at the chart, there’s little reason to disparage such a potential but our Big Picture secondary, if 1.4307 is exceeded, comes in at 1.5279.
The implication of such a move would be a return to trading levels not seen since President Trump was first elected US President and in the hiatus period where his Coronation was awaited. (They say inaugurated but we’ve always felt it sounds like something you’d do with cheese.) There is certainly a visual argument favouring the 1.5279 level, a threat of a period of delay until the world is ready to believe a future attraction from 1.8449 is proving as attractive as an expense receipt to a UK politician.
The core reason for our cynical attitude does reside in politics. It’s hard to believe Sterling could strengthen, given the current calibre of political leadership in the UK from either of the two main employers of muppets.
But if things intend go wrong, GBPUSD needs wither below 1.35000 to potentially trigger reversal down to 1.3421 with our secondary, if broken, a visually acceptable 1.3106.
Who knows, it is perhaps time to consider a holiday in Disney Florida later this year…
FUTURES
FUTURES
| Time Issued | Market | Price At Issue | Short Entry | Fast Exit | Slow Exit | Stop | Long Entry | Fast Exit | Slow Exit | Stop | Prior |
| 11:33:23PM | BRENT | 6936.1 | Success | ||||||||
| 11:36:18PM | GOLD | 5059.33 | 5000 | 4961 | 4907 | 5072 | 5121 | 5302 | 5517 | 5012 | |
| 11:39:40PM | FTSE | 10521.1 | Success | ||||||||
| 11:41:32PM | STOX50 | 6077.5 | Success | ||||||||
| 11:44:46PM | GERMANY | 24943.7 | Success | ||||||||
| 11:46:54PM | US500 | 6953 | Shambles | ||||||||
| 11:46:48PM | DOW | 50206.5 | ‘cess | ||||||||
| 11:57:04PM | NASDAQ | 25198 | 24869 | 24748 | 24540 | 25134 | 25376 | 25471 | 25635 | 25152 |
11/02/2026 FTSE Closed at 10472 points. Change of 1.15%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 8,061,814,273 a change of -0.89%
10/02/2026 FTSE Closed at 10353 points. Change of -0.32%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 8,133,860,971 a change of 2.3%
9/02/2026 FTSE Closed at 10386 points. Change of 0.16%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 7,950,643,906 a change of 17.72%
6/02/2026 FTSE Closed at 10369 points. Change of 0.58%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 6,754,046,507 a change of -27.29%
5/02/2026 FTSE Closed at 10309 points. Change of -0.89%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 9,288,693,358 a change of 0.23%
4/02/2026 FTSE Closed at 10402 points. Change of 0.85%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 9,267,141,152 a change of 9.85%
3/02/2026 FTSE Closed at 10314 points. Change of -0.26%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 8,436,122,979 a change of -7.8% 
SUCCESS above means both FAST & SLOW targets were met. ‘CESS means just the FAST target met and probably the next time it is exceeded, movement to the SLOW target shall commence.
Our commentary is in two sections. Immediately below are today’s updated comments. If our commentary remains valid, the share can be found in the bottom section which has a RED heading. Hopefully, this will mean you no longer need to flip back through previous reports. HYPERLINKS DISABLED IN THIS VERSION
Please remember, all prices are mid-price (halfway between the Buy and Sell). When we refer to a price CLOSING above a specific level, we are viewing the point where we can regard a trend as changing. Otherwise, we are simply speculating on near term trading targets. Our website is www.trendsandtargets.com.
UPDATE. We often give an initial and a secondary price. If the initial is exceeded, we still expect it to fall back but the next time the initial is bettered, the price should continue to the secondary. The converse it true with price drops.
We can be contacted at info@trendsandtargets.com. Spam filters set to maximum so only legit emails get through…
Section One – Outlook Updated Today. Click here for Section Two – Outlook Remains Valid shares
Click Epic to jump to share: LSE:AZN Astrazeneca** **LSE:BBY BALFOUR BEATTY** **LSE:EXPN Experian** **LSE:NG. National Glib** **LSE:OXIG Oxford Instruments** **LSE:PMG Parkmead** **LSE:SPX Spirax** **LSE:WG. Wood Group** **
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Updated charts published on : Astrazeneca, BALFOUR BEATTY, Experian, National Glib, Oxford Instruments, Parkmead, Spirax, Wood Group,
LSE:AZN Astrazeneca. Close Mid-Price: 14818 Percentage Change: + 4.62% Day High: 14804 Day Low: 14074
Target met. In the event of Astrazeneca enjoying further trades beyond 14 ……..
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View Previous Astrazeneca & Big Picture ***
LSE:BBY BALFOUR BEATTY. Close Mid-Price: 754 Percentage Change: + 0.94% Day High: 763.5 Day Low: 743
Continued trades against BBY with a mid-price ABOVE 763.5 should improve ……..
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View Previous BALFOUR BEATTY & Big Picture ***
LSE:EXPN Experian Close Mid-Price: 2375 Percentage Change: -4.12% Day High: 2477 Day Low: 2361
If Experian experiences continued weakness below 2361, it will invariably ……..
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View Previous Experian & Big Picture ***
LSE:NG. National Glib. Close Mid-Price: 1329 Percentage Change: + 2.86% Day High: 1332 Day Low: 1295
Target met. Continued trades against NG. with a mid-price ABOVE 1332 shou ……..
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View Previous National Glib & Big Picture ***
LSE:OXIG Oxford Instruments. Close Mid-Price: 2620 Percentage Change: + 1.95% Day High: 2675 Day Low: 2535
In the event of Oxford Instruments enjoying further trades beyond 2675, t ……..
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View Previous Oxford Instruments & Big Picture ***
LSE:PMG Parkmead Close Mid-Price: 19.5 Percentage Change: -1.27% Day High: 20.5 Day Low: 19.5
Target met. Further movement against Parkmead ABOVE 20.5 should improve a ……..
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View Previous Parkmead & Big Picture ***
LSE:SPX Spirax. Close Mid-Price: 7960 Percentage Change: + 1.79% Day High: 7995 Day Low: 7660
Target met. In the event of Spirax enjoying further trades beyond 7995, t ……..
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View Previous Spirax & Big Picture ***
LSE:WG. Wood Group. Close Mid-Price: 26.76 Percentage Change: + 0.38% Day High: 27 Day Low: 26.46
Target met. All Wood Group needs are mid-price trades ABOVE 27 to improve ……..
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View Previous Wood Group & Big Picture ***