We’re about to enter the horror which is August, a month virtually devoid of Formula1 and also, a complete absence of anything making much sense on low volume stock markets. Following last weekends masterclass from Louis Hamilton, we hope this weekends Hungarian Grand Prix lets the guy again show it’s possible to pass cars on a race track. And of course, once the Hungarian race completes, the world faces a month devoid of what sometimes passes as entertainment at weekend. Maybe the London Stock Exchange will someday opt to mimic such a ploy, just closing for August holiday month!
Of course, at this point, we do need to mention anyone thinking of holidaying in Scotland during August should check the weather forecast. Typically, there’s a monsoon event during the first week and toward the end of the month, things can cool down. One year, we managed to become “stuck” in snow on the Applecross Pass in Ross-shire, made doubly embarrassing as we were in an Audi 4WD quarto. The snow was simply too deep… A couple of days later, the temperature was 22c and perfect for the West Coast. Nowadays we live 200 miles south in Argyll but due to our mountains, experience similar (or worse) weather to the highlands.
The UK market has been well behaved during July, albeit being just a little boring with each days parsimonious rise proving less than exciting…
The chart below is a view of July, showing UK market movements literally in Minute by Minute mode. We actually like this charting ability as while it can almost provide too much information, it’s one of the ways by which real market direction can often be fathomed. In this instance, it would be reasonable to assume the market faces yet another UP day unless the index value pierced Red, currently at 9,117 points. Should such an event occur, it will give a reasonable clue the uptrend has failed, perhaps triggering some near term reversals.
At present, below 9,117 calculates with the potential of reversal to an initial 9.096 points with our secondary, if broken, at 9.050 points. What’s just a little crazy with this scenario is the potential stop loss level works out at 9.120 points, almost a free gift if reversal occurs. However, it’s unlikely such a boon would be visited upon traders, the market usually displaying a sense of humour by enacted a large part of the drop in the opening seconds of trade. It also creates a situation where anyone trying to explore a downward dip could find themselves entering the trade just below 9,096 points, only to find the index suddenly heading upward, usually to just above the stop loss level, before changing direction and heading to our proposed bottom at 9,050 points.
When this sort of nonsense occurs, it can be one of the most frustrating things about the markets, creating a scenario where “we were right, but anyone trying to trade lost money…”
Market movement above 9,160 is liable to prove better behaving, creating a situation where a lift to an initial 9,211 points is viable with our secondary, if bettered, at 9,248 points. In this game plan, the tightest stop loss looks like 9,117 points, a bit wide but visually making a lot of sense.
Have a good weekend. Can’t recommend any cuisine for Sunday as it’s the Hungarian Grand Prix, a country which fails to inspire any kitchen ideas. Maybe that’s why the people are always Hungry!
FUTURES
FUTURES
| Time Issued | Market | Price At Issue | Short Entry | Fast Exit | Slow Exit | Stop | Long Entry | Fast Exit | Slow Exit | Stop | Prior |
| 10:18:56PM | BRENT | 7162.4 | 7087 | 7005 | 6914 | 7180 | 7282 | 7358 | 7621 | 7140 | |
| 10:53:16PM | GOLD | 3289.28 | 3287 | 3284 | 3274 | 3298 | 3305 | 3318 | 3335 | 3293 | ‘cess |
| 11:09:38PM | FTSE | 9112.7 | 9104 | 9070 | 9030 | 9134 | 9179 | 9195 | 9230 | 9130 | ‘cess |
| 11:15:03PM | STOX50 | 5311.4 | 5298 | 5279 | 5230 | 5342 | 5369 | 5397 | 5430 | 5336 | Success |
| 11:19:56PM | GERMANY | 24013.5 | 23965 | 23844 | 23648 | 24088 | 24112 | 24168 | 24236 | 24026 | Shambles |
| 11:23:38PM | US500 | 6335.2 | 6326 | 6291 | 6243 | 6350 | 6372 | 6388 | 6409 | 6342 | ‘cess |
| 11:27:33PM | DOW | 44118 | 44049 | 43940 | 43547 | 44256 | 44400 | 44520 | 44677 | 44194 | ‘cess |
| 11:31:59PM | NASDAQ | 23176.6 | 23348 | 23270 | 23171 | 23450 | 23439 | 23534 | 24390 | 23286 | Shambles |
| 11:35:52PM | JAPAN | 40748 | 40781 | 40719 | 40615 | 40878 | 41018 | 41142 | 41361 | 40888 | Success |
31/07/2025 FTSE Closed at 9132 points. Change of -0.04%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 7,774,577,039 a change of 48.3%
30/07/2025 FTSE Closed at 9136 points. Change of 0%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 5,242,351,161 a change of -7.33%
29/07/2025 FTSE Closed at 9136 points. Change of 0.61%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 5,656,845,157 a change of 28.68%
28/07/2025 FTSE Closed at 9081 points. Change of -0.43%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 4,395,992,123 a change of -22.42%
25/07/2025 FTSE Closed at 9120 points. Change of -0.2%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 5,666,736,165 a change of 2.7%
24/07/2025 FTSE Closed at 9138 points. Change of 0.85%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 5,517,760,836 a change of 0.27%
23/07/2025 FTSE Closed at 9061 points. Change of 0.42%. Total value traded through LSE was: £ 5,503,107,449 a change of 15.9% 
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:AV. Aviva** **LSE:BARC Barclays** **LSE:BBY BALFOUR BEATTY** **LSE:CAR Carclo** **LSE:CCL Carnival** **LSE:NWG Natwest** **LSE:OXIG Oxford Instruments** **LSE:RKH Rockhopper** **LSE:RR. Rolls Royce** **LSE:SMT Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust** **LSE:SPX Spirax** **LSE:STAN Standard Chartered** **LSE:TERN Tern Plc** **
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Updated charts published on : Aviva, Barclays, BALFOUR BEATTY, Carclo, Carnival, Natwest, Oxford Instruments, Rockhopper, Rolls Royce, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, Spirax, Standard Chartered, Tern Plc,
LSE:AV. Aviva. Close Mid-Price: 648.6 Percentage Change: + 1.50% Day High: 650.4 Day Low: 641
Target met. Further movement against Aviva ABOVE 650.4 should improve acc ……..
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View Previous Aviva & Big Picture ***
LSE:BARC Barclays Close Mid-Price: 371.3 Percentage Change: -0.99% Day High: 376.15 Day Low: 370.75
In the event of Barclays enjoying further trades beyond 376.15, the share ……..
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View Previous Barclays & Big Picture ***
LSE:BBY BALFOUR BEATTY. Close Mid-Price: 543 Percentage Change: + 0.09% Day High: 546 Day Low: 540
Target met. All BALFOUR BEATTY needs are mid-price trades ABOVE 546 to im ……..
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View Previous BALFOUR BEATTY & Big Picture ***
LSE:CAR Carclo. Close Mid-Price: 47.4 Percentage Change: + 0.85% Day High: 50 Day Low: 47.6
Further movement against Carclo ABOVE 50 should improve acceleration towa ……..
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View Previous Carclo & Big Picture ***
LSE:CCL Carnival. Close Mid-Price: 2086 Percentage Change: + 0.63% Day High: 2138 Day Low: 2055
Target met. Further movement against Carnival ABOVE 2138 should improve a ……..
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View Previous Carnival & Big Picture ***
LSE:NWG Natwest Close Mid-Price: 527 Percentage Change: -0.57% Day High: 534.8 Day Low: 526
All Natwest needs are mid-price trades ABOVE 534.8 to improve acceleratio ……..
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View Previous Natwest & Big Picture ***
LSE:OXIG Oxford Instruments Close Mid-Price: 1816 Percentage Change: -0.98% Day High: 1838 Day Low: 1750
Target met. In the event Oxford Instruments experiences weakness below 17 ……..
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View Previous Oxford Instruments & Big Picture ***
LSE:RKH Rockhopper. Close Mid-Price: 77.6 Percentage Change: + 8.38% Day High: 79.8 Day Low: 60
Target met. Continued trades against RKH with a mid-price ABOVE 79.8 shou ……..
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View Previous Rockhopper & Big Picture ***
LSE:RR. Rolls Royce. Close Mid-Price: 1072 Percentage Change: + 8.50% Day High: 1108.5 Day Low: 1047.5
Target met. Currently, I’ve absolutely no idea where Rolls Royce at going ……..
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View Previous Rolls Royce & Big Picture ***
LSE:SMT Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust. Close Mid-Price: 1098 Percentage Change: + 0.73% Day High: 1105.5 Day Low: 1094.5
Continued trades against SMT with a mid-price ABOVE 1105.5 should improve ……..
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View Previous Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust & Big Picture ***
LSE:SPX Spirax. Close Mid-Price: 6345 Percentage Change: + 0.24% Day High: 6550 Day Low: 6325
Further movement against Spirax ABOVE 6550 should improve acceleration to ……..
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View Previous Spirax & Big Picture ***
LSE:STAN Standard Chartered Close Mid-Price: 1360.5 Percentage Change: -0.69% Day High: 1393 Day Low: 1345.5
Target met. All Standard Chartered needs are mid-price trades ABOVE 1393 ……..
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View Previous Standard Chartered & Big Picture ***
LSE:TERN Tern Plc Close Mid-Price: 0.92 Percentage Change: -5.13% Day High: 0.98 Day Low: 0.92
Target met. In the event Tern Plc experiences weakness below 0.92 it calc ……..
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View Previous Tern Plc & Big Picture ***