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 Post subject: May 6th Thursday 2010 Emini TF ($TF_F) points +97.40
PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2010 12:22 am 
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Trade Journal By M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body analysis)

Trade journals are crucial in preventing us traders from becoming complacent or content with our trading plan or the markets because without having the ability to review archives of past trading days in a forever changing market...we won't know it's time to adapt when change occurs in the markets because broker statements alone doesn't help us keep that edge in comparison to a trade journal. In addition, although this journal contains advertisements involving my trade methods, it does contain useful trading tips a few times per week. Thus, if you're looking for trading tips that can improve your trading and understand that profitable trading involves more than just entry signals...consistently read this trade journal and the #FuturesTrades chat room logs where I post my trades in real-time from entry to exit (see link below) via my IRC user name wrbtrader that's the same as my user name on twitter.

Today's #FuturesTrades chat room logs is archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=74&t=514.

Quote:
Today's results are 22 wins : 6 losses. Best trading day in several years due to crazy volatility and a possible fat finger trade error at one of the big institutional trading firms. Regardless, the market was already down -300 to -400 points before it plunged. However, like most fat finger trade rumors...as soon as such a rumor hits the market as an explanation for the price drop...the markets usually try to retrace. That's where my best trade of the day occurred via going Long soon after the bottom (after I heard via my news feed) that it was a fat finger trade error. No technical analysis...just pure market experience on the best trade of the day with the help of real-time news feed. In addition, I had great trade management via keeping the average loser below -0.50 ticks @ -0.43 per losing trade.

By the way, there's always an element of luck in great trading days. For example, I had originally schedule today as a personal day off from the markets to do work on the house, shed and landscape. However, the weather forecast for today was rain and thunderstorm. Thus, I took off from the markets yesterday instead of today. :lol:

Trading Tip: Profitable veteran traders will usually say the keys to their success is money management, position size management, trade management, discipline and market experience. In contrast, their trade signal strategies is usually not at the top of their list although it has an edge. My point is that an edge or best edge has nothing to do with trade signals.


FYI - You can ask me questions here at the forum or you can tweet me on twitter about anything related to today's trading or related to your own trading.

Image@ http://twitter.com/wrbtrader


In addition, posted below are direct links about my trade methodology or trading approach that enables me to identify key trading areas in the price action that represent changes in supply/demand and volatility along with being able to exploit these changes via WRB Analysis (wide range body analysis).

http://www.thestrategylab.com/WRBAnalysisTutorials.htm

http://www.thestrategylab.com/TradeStrategies.htm

Also, if you're interested in having free access to one of my profitable trade strategies along with earning extra income with little effort...join my referral program @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ReferralProgram.htm

My Trading Performance: +97.40 points in the ICE Russell 2000 Emini TF ($TF_F) Futures
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Glitches send Dow on wild ride
By Alexandra Twin, senior writer
May 6, 2010: 7:36 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- In one of the most gut-wrenching hours in Wall Street history, the Dow plunged almost 1,000 points Thursday before recovering to close down 348, as erroneous trading in Procter & Gamble and several other stocks sparked a massive selloff.

Fears about the spread of the European debt crisis dragged on stocks through the early afternoon. But the selling picked up in intensity and the Dow reached its nadir at around 2:40 p.m. ET.

The selling was a result of technical glitches that caused some stocks, including Dow component Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500), to plunge 37% to $39.37 per share from the close of $62.12 Wednesday. The consumer products maker recovered most of that loss by the close, ending just 2% lower.

But the faulty P&G trading was responsible for 172 of the 998.50 points that the Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost at its worst, the biggest one-day point decline on an intraday basis in Dow Jones history.

Accenture, 3M, Sotheby's and other stocks may have been impacted by similar problems. (For details,click here)

At the closing bell, the Dow was down 348 points, or 3.2%, to end at 10,520.32. The Dow's biggest one-day point decline on a closing basis was Sept. 29, 2008, when it fell 777.68, which had also been the previous intraday mark.

The S&P 500 index (SPX) slipped 38 points, or 3.2%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) dropped 83 points, or 3.4%.

"On the Dow, we were down 400 to 800 points in five minutes, it was horrifying," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.

Beyond the erroneous trades, the selling pressure of the last few days has been more technical than fundamental, said Hogan. He said the market collapsed some major technical support levels, and could be in for more selling Friday.
P&G stock drops 37% -- not really

However, there are a few factors that could help stabilize the market Friday, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners, including news on Greece.

"The key is to get Germany's vote tomorrow in favor of the Greek aid package from the European Union," he said. "If that happens, that could help calm fears and stabilize the market."

Friday's big April jobs report could end up being a non-event, said Donald Selkin, chief market strategist at National Securities. "We've had good economic reports all week and it hasn't happened."

The CBOE Volatility (VIX) index, Wall Street's so-called fear gauge, closed at 34.16, its highest finish since May 4, 2009. Earlier, it had spiked as high as 40.71, a 62% jump and its biggest one-day surge since February 2007.

Selkin said that often when the VIX gets over 40 that can be a sign that the selling has been overdone, which could be good. But with the fear gauge closing below that level, it may not provide a boost Friday.

"International markets are obviously going to get hit over night and futures are pointing to a weak open in the U.S.," Selkin said.
0:00 /6:02NYSE CEO explains selloff

Gold spiked above $1,200, the euro plunged to a more than 1-year low against the dollar and oil prices fell. Treasury prices rallied, sending the corresponding yields lower as investors sought safety in government debt prices.

The run from the euro and into the dollar and U.S. government debt was a classic flight to quality, said Ted Weisberg, NYSE floor trader, Seaport Securities. He said that the continued weakness of the euro was going to be a big drag on the markets as it pummels dollar-traded commodities and also hurts companies that do a lot of business overseas.

After the close, both the Securities and Exhange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said that they would be looking into the unusual trading that took place Thursday.

Movers: All 30 Dow components slid, with oil components Chevron and Exxon Mobil, financial leader JPMorgan Chase, and tech names Hewlett-Packard and IBM among the big losers. 3M, Boeing and United Technologies added to the weakness.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers 17 to 1 on volume of 2.58 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners seven to one on volume of 4.48 billion shares.
0:00 /3:51Lack of confidence hits Dow

European debt problems accelerate: Stocks have been sliding on and off for the last two weeks as investors mull the ramifications of the growing debt crisis in Europe.

While European leaders have pledged to provide Greece with $146 billion in loans over the next three years, attempts by the nation to institute certain "austerity" measures to bring down the deficit have sparked riots and other violent outbursts.

Meanwhile, investors are concerned that the size of the bailout will make Europe less able to help Spain, Portugal and other debt-plagued nations. The so-called PIIGS also include Italy and Ireland.

"There's no question that Europe and Greece, and specifically the fear of contagion, is what's driving the market lower," said Hank Smith, chief investment officer at Haverford Investments.

"Having said that, we also have to be cognizant that the market was due for a pullback at a minimum, and possibly a correction," he said.

He noted the market hasn't had a correction - technically defined as a selloff of 10% on a closing basis - for at least 14 months.

A slew of good - but not great - retail sales reports from the nation's chain stores, and a report that showed weekly jobless claims dropped were also in focus.
Watch Greece but don't forget America

Economy: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell to 444,000 last week from a revised 451,000 the previous week. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought claims would fall to 440,000.

Continuing claims, a measure of Americans who have been receiving benefits for a week or more, dropped to 4,594,000 from a revised 4,653,000 in the previous week. Economists expected 4,600,000 continuing claims.

The report was released one day ahead of the government's closely watched April jobs report, due Friday morning. That report is expected to show employers added 187,000 jobs to their payrolls after adding 162,000 in March, according to economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

The growth is considered a step in the right direction, but the number of new jobs is not yet enough to keep up with the number of new entrants in the labor market.

The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, is expected to hold steady at 9.7%.

Corporate news: Troubled mortgage lender Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500) reported an $8 billion quarterly loss Wednesday and also said it needs another $10.6 billion from the federal government. The company was put into conservatorship by the government during the height of the financial crisis in 2008, along with its sister company Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500).

World markets: In overseas trading, European markets tumbled, with France's CAC 40 down 2.2%, Germany's DAX down 0.8% and London's FTSE down 1.5%.

Asian markets fell. Japan's benchmark Nikkei index lost 3.3% as investors reacted to the European debt crisis after a long holiday. The Hong Kong Hang Seng lost 1% and the Shanghai Composite lost 1%.

The dollar and commodities: The dollar rallied early versus the euro, with the European currency falling to its lowest level since March of 2009. But by late day, the dollar had turned lower. It also fell versus the Japanese yen.

U.S. light crude oil for June delivery dropped $2.86 to settle at $77.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for June delivery rose $22.30 to settle at $1,197.30 per ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices rallied, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.40% from 3.55% Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

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Yahoo! Finance

4:35 pm : Another broad-based wave of high-volume selling sent stocks to their worst percentage loss in more than one year, but things could have been far worse since the Dow was actually down nearly 1,000 points in its worst intraday drop on record.

Weakness was widespread for the entire session as participants showed an aversion to risk. That theme caused sovereign debt credit spreads to widen and many of the global indices to drop so much that the Dow Jones World Index fell 2.7% in its worst single-session percentage slide since February.

U.S. equities found little support as the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 spent the first part of the session with broad-based losses. Follow through selling caused a breakdown in technical support, including a violation of the 200-day moving average. Selling soon went from frantic to panic as the Dow dropped nearly 500 points in five minutes. That gap down put the Dow nearly 1,000 points into the red.

Though there was talk that a program or system error led to the cascade of selling, media reports indicated that the major exchanges said there was now error on their part.

While stocks had looked to be headed for something awful, computer programmed trades quickly clicked to buy and drove the Dow back up several hundred points in a matter of minutes. The Dow closed almost 650 points above its session low, but it still lost nearly 350 points on the session.

Few were able to stage a gain this session. In fact, some 97% of the names in the S&P 500 logged a loss. Such weakness culminated in the worst percentage loss for the S&P 500 this year. What's more, the benchmark index has now lost more than 6% during the course of the past three sessions, which makes for its worst three-session slide in over 12 months.

Volatility surged as a result of the midafternoon selloff. The Volatility Index was actually up more than 60% at its session high. That put the "fear gauge" to its highest level in more than one year.

An interest in safety drove the dollar to a new one-year high against competing currencies. It finished 0.9% higher.

Most of the greenback's gain came against the euro, which remained weak in the wake of the European Central Bank's decision to keep its target interest rate unchanged at 1.00%, as expected. News that Greece passed planned austerity measures in a nonbinding preliminary vote failed to help the euro, too.

Despite strength in the dollar, market participants chased gold prices to 2010 highs. The yellow metal closed pit trade at $1197.30 per ounce, up 1.6%.

Treasuries also spiked -- so much that the benchmark 10-year Note climbed more than one point and its yield fell below 3.40 for the first time this year.

Trading volume was its highest level all year as more than 2.5 billion shares exchanged hands on the NYSE this session. The heightened participation is frequently associated with increased conviction among market participants.

In economic news, the latest weekly jobless claims count showed 444,000 initial claims were filed for the week ended May 1 and 4.59 million continuing claims were recently recorded. Both were generally on par with expectations, but the data was largely an dismissed ahead of the government's official nonfarm payrolls report tomorrow morning.

Advancing Sectors: (None)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-4.1%), Consumer Discretionary (-3.5%), Energy (-3.4%), Industrials (-3.3%), Tech (-3.3%), Materials (-3.1%), Utilities (-2.7%), Health Care (-2.6%), Telecom (-2.4%), Consumer Staples (-2.4%) DJ30 -347.80 NASDAQ -82.65 NQ100 -3.3% R2K -3.8% SP400 -3.4% SP500 -37.75 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 330/4.42 bln/2418 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 173/2.57 bln/26

3:40 pm : The CRB Commodity Index fell another 2.0% today. The index is down nearly 6% since Monday morning. Industrial commodities fell 4.6%, led by an 11% decline in July nickel futures.

Selling in the energy space was relentless. June crude oil futures fell 3.6% to close at $77.11 per barrel. Prices actually sank below the $75 level in the panicked selling before the 3:00 hour. June crude oil is currently trading around the $76 level in the electronic trade; it has lost about 12% since Monday's highs. Meanwhile, natural gas outperformed this session. The June contract fell 1.3% at close at $3.94 per MMBtu.

Gold shined as the "safe-haven" trade amid the panic. June gold closed 1.6% higher in the pit trade to close at $1197.30 per ounce. It spiked to just under the $1210 level, though, as the selling in the market peaked. It is currently trading just below the $1200 level in the electronic trade. Gold is up over 3.5% since yesterday morning. Silver, on the other hand, was relatively unchanged at $17.52 per ounce. DJ30 -356.79 NASDAQ -84.36 SP500 -41.01 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 313/3.89 bln/2415 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 161/1.98 bln/3003

3:00 pm : Selling recently went from frantic to panic as the Dow actually dropped more than 500 points in just five minutes. That gap down put the Dow down almost 1,000 points to a two-month low and beneath its 200-day moving average. However, stocks quickly snapped back as computer trades clicked to buy to drive the Dow back up some 400 points in a matter of minutes.

The action was not the result of any particular news item, but rather a breakdown of technical levels and a wave of broad-based selling.

The whipsaw trade has caused a surge in volatility, such that the Volatility Index is currently up more than 60%. DJ30 -518.29 NASDAQ -103.09 SP500 -50.09 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 436/3.36 bln/2331 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 142/1.62 bln/3021

2:30 pm : The S&P 500 continues to contend with broad-based selling, but it has steadied its recent slide at the 1130 line, which marks a new one-month low. At the moment, stocks are face-to-face with their worst single-session percentage loss since early February, when the stock market recorded a 3.1% drop.

Treasuries have benefited considerably from the stock market's selloff. The benchmark 10-year Note is now up more than one full point. That move has pulled its yield down to 3.40% for the first time this year. Just over one month ago the Note's yield had been above 4.00%.

With more than 1 billion shares already exchanged on the NYSE this session, trading volume has been extremely strong. Such heightened participation is indicative of increased conviction among market participants. DJ30 -262.17 NASDAQ -78.92 SP500 -32.54 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 360/2.69 bln/2327 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 170/1.24 bln/2969

2:00 pm : Losses continue to mount, but there have been a few pockets of strength this session. Among them, Fidelity National Information Services (FIS 29.70, +3.70) has been especially strong, such that it even set a fresh 52-week high this session. Its advance comes after CNBC reported that the company may be in takeover talks with Blackstone Group (BX 12.48, -0.82). Fiserv (FISV 54.52, +3.57) has traded higher in conjunction with the report. DJ30 -155.46 NASDAQ -45.77 SP500 -20.76 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 510/2.23 bln/2137 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 312/1.00 bln/2781

1:30 pm : Stocks are on the retreat once again. All three major indices are now at their worst levels of the session and their worst levels in one month. Since their 52-week highs just nine sessions ago, the S&P 500 has fallen nearly 6%, the Dow has dropped 4.5%, and the Nasdaq has lost 6.8%.

Such steep slides have caused volatility to kick higher. The Volatility Index is up more than 7% this session alone, but it is up 77% since its 52-week low in mid-April. DJ30 -118.73 NASDAQ -39.16 SP500 -16.38 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 636/1.99 bln/2003 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 418/904 mln/2658

1:00 pm : Choppy trade in the early going has given way to another bout of broad-based selling. With weakness both widespread and persistent, the dollar and gold have garnered support.

Similar to previous sessions, pressure in the early going was underpinned by further widening of sovereign debt credit spreads, which suggested an increased aversion to risk among global participants.

Selling among the world's dominant exchanges has given the Dow Jones World Index a loss of at least 1% for the third straight session. That streak has resulted in a three-session slide of more than 5%, which makes for its worst three-session slide in more than one year.

With global markets looking weak and the U.S. indices unable to find positive leadership in the early going, sellers have stepped back into the action. Their pressure has sent the S&P 500 to a fresh one-month low and beneath a key technical trend line along 1158, which had actually provided support in the prior session.

Weakness is most pronounced among financials, which are now down 1.8% after the sector had actually showed some relative strength in the early going.

The interest in safety has driven many to the dollar, such that the greenback set a new one-year high against competing currencies earlier this session. Most of its move came against the euro, which remained weak in the wake of the European Central Bank's decision to keep its target interest rate unchanged at 1.00%, as expected. The Dollar Index is currently up 0.5%.

Though the greenback has gained considerably in recent sessions, gold continues to garner support. The yellow metal is currently up 1.8% to a 2010 high of $1196 per ounce.

Corporate headlines and economic data continue to do little for market participants. Recent earnings announcements have been uninspiring and the latest batch of monthly same-store sales metrics proved mixed. As for data, the latest weekly jobless claims count showed 444,000 initial claims were filed for the week ended May 1 and 4.59 million continuing claims were recently recorded. Both were generally on par with expectations. DJ30 -69.53 NASDAQ -26.47 SP500 -11.36 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 745/1.77 bln/1877 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 529/799 mln/2508

12:30 pm : Stocks made a move up from their session lows in the wake of news that Greece has approved fiscal austerity measures in a nonbinding, preliminary vote. The upturn ran into resistance as the S&P 500 came in contact with the 1160 line, though.

While stocks are off of their lows, weakness remains widespread with all 10 sectors in negative territory. Their losses range from 0.5% (tech) to 1.6% (financials). DJ30 -69.15 NASDAQ -20.41 SP500 -9.73 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 775/1.59 bln/1837 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 583/719 mln/2440

12:00 pm : The S&P 500 recently fell to the 1150 line, which was last touched in mid-March. Declines remain broad-based, but financials remain a key source of weakness with their 1.9% loss.

Volatility has picked up in recent trade. In turn, the Volatility Index is now up 5%, but it is still shy of the three-month intraday high that it set in the prior session.

With stocks on the backslide and volatility increasing, gold has garnered additional support. Gold prices are now at a new session high of $1190.30 per ounce, up 1.3%.

Treasuries have also attracted support. The benchmark 10-year Note is now up 17 ticks, which puts the Note's yield back near 2010 lows. DJ30 -93.34 NASDAQ -27.77 SP500 -12.64 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 667/1.41 bln/1911 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 503/630 mln/2490

11:30 am : All three major indices recently set new session lows.

Weakness has become widespread, but financials are among the worst performers. The sector had actually traded with moderate strength in the early going, but it has since reversed to trade with a 1.3% loss.

Bank stocks make up some of the poorest performers within the financial space. As such, diversified banks are down 1.4%, collectively, and regional banks are down 1.7%, collectively. DJ30 -76.18 NASDAQ -22.87 SP500 -9.42 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 708/1.17 bln/1815 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 587/525 mln/2374

11:00 am : Stocks recently retreated deeper into the red to register fresh session lows. The downward move has taken stocks below the prior session's low and beneath a key technical trend line that runs through 1158. That same 1158 line had provided stocks with support during the prior session.

The recent fit of weakness comes as the dollar reclaims its earlier gains. In turn, the buck is up almost 0.6%, which puts it back near its session high.

Despite the greenback's gain, gold prices continue to trade with strength. The yellow metal is off of its session high, but it is still up a handsome 0.8% at $1184.50 per ounce. DJ30 -77.69 NASDAQ -18.65 SP500 -8.93 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 828/905 mln/1647 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 658/398 mln/2251

10:30 am : Oil prices remain under pressure. As such, the price of crude oil is currently down 1.0% to $79.15 per barrel. Oil prices had been above $87 per barrel at the start of this week.

Natural gas prices have also pushed lower in recent trade, thanks to news that weekly inventories showed a build of 83 bcf when a build of 80 bcf had been widely expected. Natural gas prices now stand at $3.87 per MMBtu, down 2.9%.

Gold prices have spent the entire morning in higher ground. At $1187.40 per ounce, up 1.0%, the yellow metal is near its session high.

Silver prices have made their way to $17.65 per ounce, which gives it a 0.7% gain.

For commodities as a whole, the CRB Commodity Index is down 0.5% at the moment. DJ30 -33.56 NASDAQ -6.23 SP500 -3.99 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1100/592 mln/1303 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1052/260 mln/1786

10:00 am : The S&P 500 recently retreated back to its opening low, paused there, but then made another upward turn in recent trade. The swings have made for a choppy start to the session.

The greenback has given up most of its gain this morning so that it is now up less than 0.2% against competing currencies. It had been up roughly 0.6% earlier this morning.

The dollar's dip has helped garner additional support for gold. The yellow metal is currently up 0.7% to $1183.70 per ounce, while the broader commodity space is down 0.3%, according to the CRB Commodity Index.

Advancing Sectors: Materials (+0.8%), Industrials (+0.3%), Financials (+0.2%), Tech (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: Utilities (-0.6%), Telecom (-0.4%), Consumer Staples (-0.3%), Health Care (-0.2%), Energy (-0.2%)
Unchanged: Consumer Discretionary DJ30 +6.42 NASDAQ +3.54 SP500 +0.36 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1224/415 mln/1115 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1324/175 mln/1443

09:45 am : Stocks opened the session with a sizable loss, but they have made an upward run in recent trade. The major indices are now essentially flat for the session.

Early support comes from financials and materials stocks, which are up 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively, while utilities are under some of the most pressure as they contend with an early loss of 0.6%. DJ30 -0.83 NASDAQ +2.10 SP500 -0.01 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1113/214 mln/1116 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1264/110 mln/1407

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -6.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -14.80. An apparent aversion to risk sent the stock market some 3% lower during the course of the past two sessions. The slide doesn't yet look like it is ready to stop as stock futures point to a markedly lower start for this session. Similar to previous sessions, this morning's weakness comes amid wider credit spreads on sovereign debt and a weaker euro, which has fallen to a fresh one-year low against the U.S. dollar amid an ECB decision to keep target interest rates unchanged. The greenback's gains in recent sessions have the Dollar Index up more than 3% week-to-date. Economic data remains an afterthought, mainly since it continues to come without surprise. The latest weekly jobless claims count showed 444,000 initial claims were filed for the week ended May 1 and 4.59 million continuing claims were recently recorded. Corporate news hasn't played much of a role in recent sessions either -- the number of widely-held names making quarterly reports has dwindled. Most of this morning's headlines have come from monthly same-store sales reports, which have been a bit mixed.

09:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -4.60. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -11.50. U.S. equity futures continue to weaken, but action in Europe is varied. More specific to Europe, the European Central Bank (ECB) left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 1.00%, as expected. Recent comments from ECB President Trichet have helped the euro stabilize a bit from its latest fit of weakness, which took the euro to a new one-year low against the greenback earlier this morning. Germany's DAX is up 0.2% as advancing issues take a 2-to-1 lead over decliners. BASF is a primary source of strength, but Allianz (AZ) is exceptionally weak. In France, the CAC is up 0.6% with help from BNP Paribas. Vivendi has been a drag, however. Britan's FTSE is flat at the moment. BP Plc (BP) continues to climb after being beaten down amid concerns from the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) remains under pressure, though. Banking issues are also a source of weakness as HSBC (HBC), Barclays (BCS), and Standard Chartered were among the leading laggards. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei reopened after an extended holiday to trade down a sharp 3.3%. Only five of the 225 names listed in the Nikkei staged gains. TDK was among the few to advance, while Fast Retailing was one of the heaviest drags. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.0% as HSBC weighed heavily on trade. However, domestic banks were strong as China Construction Bank, Bank of China, and Industrial & Commercial Bank provided support. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite dropped 4.1% as more than 90% of its issues fell to a loss. PetroChina (PTR) led the drop.

08:40 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -0.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -1.30. Stock futures have slipped a bit in the past few minutes. The latest data release, which included the latest weekly jobless claims count and a preliminary reading on first quarter productivity, didn't do much to help. Initial jobless claims for the week ended May 1 totaled 444,000, which is slightly above the consensus forecast for 440,000 initial claims. Continuing claims came in at 4.59 million, which is below the 4.65 million claims that had been expected. Separately, nonfarm productivity for the first quarter climbed 3.6% as unit labor costs fell 1.6%.

08:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +1.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +1.30. After the S&P 500 endured its worst two-session slide since February, stock futures are relatively flat this morning. The tepid tone comes as Europe's major bourses trade in mixed fashion and Asia's major averages show steep losses. Meanwhile, the dollar continues to gain ground against competing currencies, such that the Dollar Index now stands at a fresh 52-week high. The latest weekly jobless claims count is due at the bottom of the hour, along with the preliminary first quarter productivity reading. Treasury Secretary Geithner is scheduled to speak at 9:00 AM ET. Fed Chairman Bernanke will speak at 9:30 AM ET. Bernanke's speech comes ahead of the April nonfarm payrolls report, which is due tomorrow morning.

07:55 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +2.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +1.30.

07:55 am : Nikkei...10695.69...-361.70...-3.30%. Hang Seng...20133.41...-194.10...-1.00%.

07:55 am : FTSE...5352.47...+10.40...+0.20%. DAX...5984.45...+25.70...+0.40%.

Special thanks to Yahoo! Finance and CNNMoney for their market summaries. gm

Best Regards,
M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body analysis)
Image@ http://twitter.com/wrbtrader and http://stocktwits.com/wrbtrader

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