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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, this public trade journal contains useful trading tips a few times per week to encourage readers to return for more information and to help ensure I myself don't forget the importance of basic concepts within my own trading plan. Further, there are market summaries from Youtube Bloomberg, CNNMoney and Yahoo Finance as a quick archive of what happened in the markets on a particular day of trading. Thus, if you're looking for trading tips and market summaries that can improve your trading and/or understanding of what happen on a particular day that 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.

Today's #FuturesTrades chat room logs is archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=78&t=623

click on the below image to view normal size

Trade Performance for Today: +8.10 points or $810 dollars in the ICE Russell 2000 Emini TF ($TF_F) Futures.
1 tick or 0.10 = $10 dollars and to find out more contract information about the Russell 2000 Emini TF...click here.



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

@ 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).

WRB Analysis Tutorials @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/WRBAnalysisTutorials.htm and there's a free study guide of the WRB Analysis Tutorial Chapters 1, 2 and 3 @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewforum.php?f=119. However, you must join the TSL Support Forum to access the free study guide. To register...click here.

Volatility Trading Report (VTR) @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/VolatilityTrading.htm

Daily Trade Routine @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=121&t=761

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

Video: U.S. Stocks Rise, S&P 500 Has Longest Rally Since April
Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Courtney Donohoe reports on the performance of the U.S. equity market today. Stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index completing the longest weekly rally since April, as better-than-estimated earnings at technology companies overshadowed an unexpected drop in consumer confidence.

Stocks Eke Out Gains In Choppy Week

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By Julianne Pepitone, staff reporter
September 17, 2010: 4:33 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks closed modestly higher Friday on better-than-expected earnings from Oracle and Research in Motion, but a disappointing consumer sentiment report put a cap on gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 13 points, or 0.1%, to end at 10,607.85. The S&P 500 (SPX) added 1 point, or 0.1%, to close at 1,125.59, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (COMP) increased 12 points, or 0.5%, to end at 2,315.61.

During the rest of the week, stocks ended higher on Monday and Wednesday but closed mixed to flat for the other two days. The Dow gained 0.6% over the week, while the S&P added 0.3%, and the Nasdaq advanced 1.3%.

Upbeat tech earnings helped stocks pop at the open Friday, but an unexpectedly downbeat consumer sentiment report sent indexes in and out of negative territory. The banking and energy sectors ended mostly lower, while technology, retail and housing shares closed mixed.

Investors have been somewhat encouraged by recent signs of economic improvement. But with consumer sentiment still in the dumps and a murky outlook for job growth, stocks have been drifting without much conviction.

"We're continuing to see strong earnings, but that's not going to get us much higher with negative news on economic front," said J. Bryant Evans, portfolio manager at at Cozad Asset Management.

Friday may also have been volatile due to traders adjusting their portfolios during so-called "quadruple witching."

The term refers to the phenomenon that takes place four times a year when several derivatives contracts expire at the same time -- those tied to market index futures, market index options, stock options and stock futures.

Next week investors will be looking to a raft of data on the housing sector: reports about sales of new and existing homes, housing affordability, building permits and residential construction.

Stocks ended mixed on Thursday, with the Dow gaining and the S&P 500 ending the day flat.

Companies: After the closing bell Thursday, business software maker Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) reported double-digit percentage profit and sales growth in its first quarter, on the back of rising demand for business software and servers. Shares of Oracle ended 8.4% higher.

Also late Thursday, BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion issued an upbeat forecast and reported quarterly profit that beat analysts' expectations. RIM (RIMM) reported net income of $796.7 million, up sharply from $475.6 million in the year-earlier period.

Shares closed up only 0.5% Friday, after surging about 4% in premarket trade.

* Don't count out the BlackBerry: Video

Economy: A report on consumer sentiment missed expectations. The University of Michigan's index was expected to show that consumers were slightly more optimistic in the early part of September, but the reading fell.

The government's consumer price index showed that prices rose 0.3% in August. Stripping out volatile food and energy prices, the core CPI was unchanged.

Later Friday, President Obama appointed Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren as a special adviser to help create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is part of the Wall Street reform law.

Warren will advise the president and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner during the set-up process, but the announcement does not mean that she will run the new consumer bureau once it's up and running. However, she still remains a candidate for that job as well, sources have told CNN.

* Say g'day to the mighty (Australian) dollar

World markets: European shares closed higher Friday, though they lost steam from an earlier rally. The CAC 40 in France rose 0.4%, while Britain's FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX added 0.6%.

Asian markets closed mostly higher. Japan's benchmark Nikkei index gained 1.2%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.3%. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.2%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar edged up against the euro, but slipped versus the Japanese yen and Britain's pound.

Oil for October delivery fell 94 cents to settle at $73.63 a barrel.

Gold for December delivery settled at $1,277.50 an ounce Friday, beating the previous closing record reached on Thursday. Earlier on Friday, the precious metal also hit a new intraday trading high of $1,284.40 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the 10-year Treasury note was slightly higher, pushing down the yield to 2.75% from 2.76% late Thursday.



Yahoo! Finance

4:30 pm : High-quality quarterly reports from a couple of large-cap tech names positioned stocks for a strong start to the week's final session, but some disappointing data led to lackluster action and an anticlimactic close in the face of quadruple witching options expiration.

Better-than-expected earnings and strong forecasts from both Oracle (ORCL 27.48, +2.12 and Research In Motion (RIMM 46.72, +0.23) helped tech stocks climb 0.5% to lock in a weekly gain of 4.4% and record their eighth straight advance. Texas Instruments (TXN 25.72, +0.74) helped the sector with an announcement that it will add 8% to its dividend and earmark for share repurchases $7.5 billion, which is almost equal to a quarter of the company's current market cap.

Strength among tech issues helped the Nasdaq remain in positive territory for virtually the entire session, even after it was undercut by the preliminary Consumer Sentiment Survey for September from the University of Michigan. The Survey slipped to 66.6 from 68.9 in August. On average, economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that the September reading would come in at 70.0.

Consumer price data was generally disregarded. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August increased 0.3% month-over-month, while core prices went unchanged month-over-month. The consensus among economists polled by Briefing.com had called for a 0.2% increase in overall consumer prices and a tepid 0.1% increase in core prices.

Weakness among financials and energy stocks offset the tech sector's strength in the broader market. Financials (-0.5%) were bogged down by losses among diversified financial services stocks, which dropped 1.5%. Energy stocks (-0.5%) were primarily hampered by refiners, which fell 1.5%, though coal producer Massey Energy (MEE 29.94, -2.42) was a particularly heavy drag on the sector after it issued a disappointing outlook.

Mixed interest in the broader market left the S&P 500 to spend most of Friday's session near the neutral line after it had made an early move through key resistance levels to a new four-month high. The benchmark Index still managed to finish the week with a cumulative gain of 1.4%, though.

Share volume was extraordinarily robust. With more than 1.8 billion shares exchanged on the NYSE, this session's total was more than double the average daily count for the past 10 sessions. The surge in share count stemmed from a quadruple witching options expiration.

Despite the surge in share volume, volatility was contained. In fact, the Volatility Index was never up more than 4% and it ended the day just 1.3% higher.

Advancing Sectors: Industrials (+0.9%), Telecom (+0.6%), Tech (+0.5%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: Energy (-0.5%), Financials (-0.5%), Consumer Staples (-0.1%), Utilities (-0.1%)
Unchanged: Health Care, MaterialsDJ30 +13.02 NASDAQ +12.36 NQ100 +0.4% R2K +0.6% SP400 +0.3% SP500 +0.93 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1546/2.57 bln/1116 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1774/1.86 bln/1214

3:30 pm : The CRB Commodity Index returned to its one-month high earlier today, but backed off of that mark to settle with a 0.3% gain.

A 1.2% drop in oil prices to $73.66 per barrel was a primary driver in the CRB's pullback. Oil prices had actually opened pit trade near the neutral line. Lower natural gas prices didn't help; they fell 1.1% to $4.02 per MMBtu.

Precious metals proved supportive, though. Gold prices gained 0.3% to close at $1278 per ounce. The continuous contract actually set a new record high of $1282.50 per ounce in overnight trade. After silver set a new 30-month high of $21.03 per ounce in overnight trade it slipped shortly after the start of pit trade. It recovered to close with a 0.3% gain at $20.83 per ounce. DJ30 -3.44 NASDAQ +10.10 SP500 -0.20 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1511/1.80 bln/1088 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1762/990 mln/1210

3:00 pm : Stocks have made an incremental move higher so that the broader market now trades with a modest gain. Despite that, financials (-0.3%) and energy stocks (-0.3%) continue to lag. Utilties stocks (-0.3%) have also been left behind, but every other sector has made its way into positive territory.

A whole hour of trade remains before the final bell tolls and trading volume on the NYSE has already surpassed 900 million shares, which is above the daily average of 880 million shares seen during the past 10 sessions. The surge in volume comes amid quadruple witching options expiration. DJ30 +13.10 NASDAQ +13.37 SP500 +1.20 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1546/1.69 bln/1050 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1817/935 mln/1143

2:30 pm : Stocks remain range bound near the neutral line. The lack of action has become a common characteristic of Friday afternoon trade, although it would not be a total surprise if stocks saw an increase in volatility with the arrival of the final hour of trade.

Financial stocks have had a lackluster session. The sector is currently down 0.3% as diversified financial services stocks slump to a 1.2% gain. Share volume is heavy around that space as the likes of Citigroup (C 3.97, +0.00) and Bank of America (BAC 13.44, -0.11) represent two of the three most actively traded names by volume this session. DJ30 +13.40 NASDAQ +11.89 SP500 +1.24 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1551/1.58 bln/1023 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1778/893 mln/1153

2:00 pm : Though the broader market continues to drift sideways with little net change on the day, shares of coal producer Massey Energy (MEE 29.93, -2.43) are under stiff pressure following the company's disappointing forecast. Shares of MEE are not only among the worst performers in the energy sector (-0.5%) this session, but they are also among the worst in the broader market.

In contrast, industrial stocks are up an enviable 0.9%. The sector is currently led by Precision Castparts (PCP 128.24, +3.84) and Deere & Co (DE 71.83, +2.19). DJ30 +10.45 NASDAQ +11.33 SP500 +1.05 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1496/1.47 bln/1054 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1740/850 mln/1187

1:30 pm : The broader market continues to crawl along the neutral line.

Despite the activity stemming from quadruple witching options expiration, volatility is low. Specifically, the Volatility Index (VIX) is up just 0.7%. Diminish volatility during recent weeks has brought the VIX down to a 0.8% year-to-date gain. In mid-May, it was up more than 100% from the levels that it had seen at the end of 2009.DJ30 +7.50 NASDAQ +10.11 SP500 +0.99 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1484/1.39 bln/1050 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1756/816 mln/1166

1:00 pm : The broader market is stuck near the neutral line after some early swings, but large-cap tech stocks continue to trade with strength following a couple of upbeat announcements.

Stocks started the session in higher ground and even made a push to new four-month highs, but the move quickly ran into resistance. The subsequent pullback accelerated with the release of a disappointing September Consumer Sentiment Survey from the University of Michigan, while a generally in-line CPI report for September had no real impact on the mood of participants.

It may have appeared that sellers would take control early on, but the broader market was able to limit the slide. It has since spent the past few hours bouncing between modest gains and slight losses.

Tech stocks have been a steady source of support, thanks to better-than-expected earnings announcements and strong guidance from both Oracle (ORCL 27.29, +1.93 and Research In Motion (RIMM 47.46, +0.97). Their strength has helped keep the Nasdaq out in front of the other headline indices.

News of an 8% dividend raise and a hefty share repurchase plan from Texas Instruments (TXN 25.63, +0.65) has also helped the tone around tech issues. The $7.5 billion earmarked for repurchases represents about 25% of company's current market cap.

Though tech, the largest sector by market weight, remains in relatively solid shape with 0.2% gain, its leadership has been undermined by weakness among financials and energy stocks, which are down 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.

Though the overall mood among market participants remains rather mixed, there are still some undercurrents of uncertainty. In turn, the dollar has been able to sustain a slight gain after trading lower overnight.

Treasuries are also up at the moment, though the seesaw trade in that space has seen the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note swing a full 10 basis points from early morning high to low.

Gold also continues to garner support. Prices on the continuous contract set a record high of $1282.50 per ounce in overnight trade. The yellow metal is currently at $1277 per ounce with a 0.4% gain.

Volume is extraordinarily robust this session, but that is due to today's quadruple witching options expiration. DJ30 -2.19 NASDAQ +9.25 SP500 +0.07 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1476/1.28 bln/1064 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1685/780 mln/1215

12:30 pm : The S&P 500 is stuck near the neutral line. Though that makes for some rather lackluster action, it has preserved the stock market's 1% weekly gain.

Trading volume has been extremely strong this session. Market watchers should note, though, the spike in volume comes amid quadruple witching options expiration. Only three hours into the session, share volume on the NYSE is quickly approaching the average of the past 10 sessions. DJ30 +11.89 NASDAQ +12.09 SP500 +1.60 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1507/1.21 bln/996 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1771/749 mln/1125

12:00 pm : A tug-of-war contest between Treasury bulls and bears continues today. Since the early morning hours, the back-and-forth action has sent the yield on the 10-year Note as high as 2.80% and as low as 2.69%. The yield on the benchmark Note currently stands at 2.74% as the Note trades with a gain of just six ticks.

Data really hasn't done a whole lot to establish a clear path for Treasuries either. CPI data came in without much of a surprise, though news of weakened consumer sentiment did drive stocks lower.

The indecision seen this session comes amid a quadruple witching options expiration, which has only added to the uncertainty. DJ30 +0.53 NASDAQ +9.28 SP500 +0.66 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1461/1.11 bln/1012 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1643/718 mln/1214

11:30 am : The broader market had been gradually reclaiming gains, but it recently ran into another fit of selling, which has sent it back to the neutral line.

The Amex Airline Index remains particularly weak. It is currently contending with a 0.7% loss. Shares of Continental Airlines (CAL 23.30, -0.02) have been trying to find higher ground, though. According to multiple news sources the company's shareholders have voted in favor of a merger with UAL Corp (UAUA 22.14, -0.08). DJ30 +5.38 NASDAQ +9.19 SP500 +1.48 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1500/995 mln/956 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1730/671 mln/1128

11:00 am : A disappointing Consumer Sentiment Survey from the University of Michigan caused stocks to drop about an hour ago, but the major market averages have since recovered a bit from that downturn. The Dow and S&P 500 are still near the neutral line, but the Nasdaq has made its way back to a modest gain.

The Nasdaq's relative strength stems largely from a bounce by large-cap tech issues like Research In Motion (RIMM 47.31, +0.82) and Oracle (ORCL 26.72, +1.36), both of which posted last evening upside earnings surprises and strong guidance. DJ30 -0.53 NASDAQ +7.85 SP500 +0.89 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1315/850 mln/1064 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1622/620 mln/1185

10:30 am : Commodities prices are mixed at the moment. That has the CRB Commodity Index flat after it had been up as much as 0.7% in the early going.

Among the more widely followed commodities, oil prices are down 1.0% to $73.80 per barrel. Meanwhile, natural gas prices are flat at $4.05 per MMBtu.

As for precious metals, gold prices are up 0.1% to $1273.80 per ounce. The continuous contract set a record high of $1282.50 per ounce in overnight trade. Silver prices set a new 30-month high in overnight trade of $21.03 per ounce, but it has since pulled back to trade with a 0.4% loss at $20.67 per ounce in pit trade. DJ30 -16.34 NASDAQ +2.84 SP500 -0.86 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1103/730 mln/1233 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1367/571 mln/1414

10:00 am : Selling has intensified since the release of the preliminary Consumer Sentiment Survey for September from the University of Michigan. The Survey came in at 66.6, which is below the consensus call for 70.0 from a sample of economists polled by Briefing.com. The preliminary reading also marks a pullback from the August reading of 68.9.

The tone of trade has turned from broadely upbeat to widely weak. In turn, six of the 10 major sectors are now in the red. Only materials stocks were lower earlier.

Advancing Sectors: Telecom (+0.3%), Health Care (+0.1%), Tech (+0.1%), Consumer Staples (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: Energy (-0.5%), Materials (-0.5%), Financials (-0.3%), Utilities (-0.3%), Industrials (-0.2%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.1%)DJ30 -26.79 NASDAQ -1.38 SP500 -1.82 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 862/540 mln/1360 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1078/505 mln/1635

09:45 am : Stocks started the session on a solid note, such that the S&P 500 was able to push up to 1131, which marks its best level in about four months. However, the advance has run into a sudden bout of pressure, which has caused stocks to surrender some of their gains.

Still, the general tone to early trade remains upbeat. As such, nine of the 10 major sectors are in higher ground -- only materials (-0.1%) are in the red. DJ30 +25.05 NASDAQ +9.55 SP500 +3.86 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1331/380 mln/793 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1598/453 mln/1041

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +4.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +11.00. The stock market is up more than 1% week-to-date, but resistance looms at the top end of the summer range, which happens to align with the closing levels of the early May "flash crash." Futures for the S&P 500 had actually traded above those key levels overnight with help from strong earnings announcements and guidance from both Cisco (CSCO) and Research In Motion (RIMM). News of a hefty share repurchase plan and dividend raise from Texas Instruments (TXN) also helped. However, chatter this morning about the suspect quality of Ireland's debt has undermined the overnight mood so that only a modestly higher start to the session looks to be in order. The pullback in stock futures has coincided with a spike in the dollar, which primarily benefited from a drop in the euro, and a climb in Treasuries. Consumer price data has had no impact on premarket trade, but a consumer sentiment reading after the open could create some volatility. Volatility and volume are also likely to be induced by the expiration of options today.

09:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +3.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +8.80. Futures for the S&P 500 have resumed their descent. Europe's major bourses have also been backed down in recent action; they now trade in mixed fashion. The euro has also pulled back to a 0.3% loss from what was a nice gain. The weakened tone to overseas trade comes amid chatter about renewed concerns related to Ireland's debt. The Irish Index is now down 1.1%. Meanwhile, Germany's DAX is now unchanged. RWE AG and Muenchener Rue have been heavy drags, but Metro AG and Infineon Tech have offered support. According to data, producer prices in Germany increased 3.2% in August after a 3.7% increase for the same month one year ago. France's CAC is up 0.3% as Carrefour and ArcelorMittal (MT) continue to trade with strength, which has helped offset weakness in Total (TOT) and Societe Generale. Britain's FTSE is up 0.3% at the moment. Strength in Vodafone and Rio Tinto (RTP) has been offset by weakness in Barclays (BCS) and BP Plc (BP).

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei spiked 1.2%. It was led by Fast Retailing and Softbank. Honda Motors (HMC) was strong, too. Data showed that nationwide department store sales in Japan during August dropped 3.4%. They had fallen 1.4% in the same month one year ago. Hong Kong's Hang Seng spiked 1.3% as heavyweights HSBC (HBC), China Construction Bank, and China Mobile bounded. Hang Lung Properties and China Overseas were the only two names in the 45-member index to log losses. As for the Shanghai Composite, it shed 0.2%. PetroChina (PTR) and China Petroleum (SNP) hampered action. Jinduicheng and Huaneng Power attempted to provide support.

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +5.70. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +11.50. Stock futures had been sliding steadily during the early morning hours, but they stabilized in the minutes ahead of the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI), which was released at the bottom of the hour. The August CPI showed that overall consumer prices increased 0.3% month-over-month and core prices went unchanged month-over-month. The consensus among economists polled by Briefing.com called for a 0.2% increase in overall consumer prices and a tepid 0.1% increase in core prices.

08:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +6.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +10.00. Tech stocks provided support to the broader market in the prior session. Their strength continues into premarket trade following upside earnings surprises from large-cap names Oracle (ORCL) and Research In Motion (RIMM). Research In Motion augmented its report with upside guidance. The tech space has also been bolstered by news that Texas Instruments (TXN) will increase its dividend by 8% and authorize an additional $7.5 billion for stock repurchases. The amount earmarked for share buybacks represents roughly a quarter of the company's current market cap. Despite a strong showing from tech stocks, broader market futures have descended from their overnight highs. The Consumer Price Index for August is due at 8:30 AM ET and a preliminary reading on consumer sentiment for September from the University of Michigan follows at 9:55 AM ET. Participation among investors has been unimpressive for the past two weeks - share volume on the NYSE has remained below 1 billion for 10 straight sessions - but trade could see a substantial pickup with the expiration of options today.

06:50 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +10.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +16.30.

06:50 am : Nikkei...9626.09...+116.60...+1.20%. Hang Seng...219070.86...+279.40...+1.30%.

06:50 am : FTSE...5597.32...+57.20...+1.00%. DAX...6305.40...+55.60...+0.90%.

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

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

Phone: +1.708.572.4885
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