TheStrategyLab.com Price Action Trading Support Forum

Forum for price action traders that want to learn WRB Analysis basic tutorial chapters 1, 2 and 3 prior to purchasing our advance trade methods. Hashtags: #wrbanalysis #wrbzone #wrbhiddengap #priceaction #trading
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 6:46 pm

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: February 16th Wednesday 2011 Emini TF ($TF_F) points +2.50
PostPosted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:54 am 
Offline
Site Admin

Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:06 pm
Posts: 4335
Location: Canada
Image

Trade Results of M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body/bar analysis)
Price Action Trading (no technical indicators)
Attachment:
021611-wrbtrader-PnL-Blotter-Profit.png
021611-wrbtrader-PnL-Blotter-Profit.png [ 76.94 KiB | Viewed 292 times ]

click on the above image to view today's trading summary

Quote:
I missed about 3 good trade opportunities and then became complacent with trades that didn't have much reward potential although the risk was low. Simply, an easy going trading day and spent too much time today doing personal stuff that needed to get done. If you have any questions about my trading, want more details about the trade signal behind a particular trade or want to reply about something stated in this message post...click here.

Trade Performance for Today: +2.50 points or $250.00 dollars in the Russell 2000 Emini TF ($TF_F) Futures.
Russell 2000 Emini TF Futures - 1 tick or 0.10 = $10.00 dollars and there's more contract information @ The ICE.
S&P 500 Emini ES Futures - 1 tick or 0.25 = $12.50 dollars and there's more contract information @ CMEGroup.

In addition, today's #FuturesTrades trading chat room logs provides details about each trade from entry to exit along with commentary as the trade traversed...all archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=87&t=758. However, be advised that I'm frequently testing new trade signal methods or new trade management rules (e.g. stop/loss, trailing stops, profit targets, order types, time frames, workstation templates et cetera) after entry of existing profitable trade signal methods whenever market conditions change. Thus, adapting is a critical variable to my consistent profits along with preventing me from becoming complacent in my trading...this helps avoid trading account drawdowns.

Also, posted below are direct links to information about my trade methodology and trading plan (there's a difference between the two) 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/bar analysis).

Image 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/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=180.

Image Volatility Trading Report (VTR) @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/VolatilityTrading.htm and there's a free trade signal strategy @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewforum.php?f=89 so that you can freely test drive one of our trade strategies with support prior to purchasing the Volatility Trading Report (VTR).

Image Trading Plan Daily Routine @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=131&t=921

-----------------------------

Image Market Summaries

The below summaries by Bloomberg, CNNMoney and Yahoo! Finance helps me to do a quick review of the fundamentals, FED actions, global economics that had an impact on today's price action. Simply, I'm a strong believer that many variables causes key changes in supply/demand and volatility that's arguably just as important as my technical analysis.

Image CNNMoney.com - M&A and Earnings Drive Stocks To Fresh Highs
Attachment:
021611-Key-Price-Action-Markets.png
021611-Key-Price-Action-Markets.png [ 202.58 KiB | Viewed 278 times ]

click on the above image to view today's price action of key markets

In less than 23 months, the S&P 500 has doubled its financial meltdown low of 666.79, which it hit on March 6, 2009. That is the fastest double on record.

By Hibah Yousuf, staff reporter
February 16, 2011: 6:36 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks finished at the highest level in more than two years Wednesday, propelled by a $20 billion merger in the pharmaceutical sector and a batch of solid corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 62 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 12,288, the highest level since June 2008. JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) and Hewlett Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500) led the advance.

The S&P 500 (SPX) added 8 points, or 0.6%, to end at 1,336, more than doubling its financial meltdown low of 666.79, which it hit on March 6, 2009. The index took less than 23 months to rise 100% -- which appears to be its fastest double since S&P started publishing it in 1957. Wednesday's uptick also put the index at its highest level since June 2008.

Family Dollar (FDO, Fortune 500) rallied 9.3% after the discount retailer said it received an unsolicited offer from Nelson Peltz's Trian Group, making it the biggest gainer on the S&P 500.

The Nasdaq (COMP) rose 21 points, or 0.8%, led by a 12% jump in shares of Dell (DELL, Fortune 500), which delivered a stellar fourth-quarter profit. Comcast (CMCSA, Fortune 500) was also a strong performer on the tech-heavy index, with the cable TV provider jumping 4% after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. The Nasdaq finished at its highest level since November 2007.

Investors were also cheering the latest big M&A deal. French drugmaker Sanofi-aventis agreed to buy Genzyme, a Massachusetts-based biotech company, for $20.1 billion in cash. The deal was announced before the opening bell. Shares of both Sanofi (SNY) and Genzyme (GENZ, Fortune 500) rose more than 1%.

"We've been talking about a pickup in M&A deals, and we expect to see more to take place over the course of the year," said Matt King, chief investment officer at Bell Investment Advisors. "It's a sign that corporate America is more confident about doing business again."

On Tuesday, NYSE Euronext (NYX, Fortune 500) and Germany's Deutsche Boerse said they would tie the knot to create the world's largest exchange.

* Video - NYSE CEO: This is not a takeover

King added that the trend of fourth-quarter results coming in above expectations continues to gain traction, with Comcast, Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and Deere & Co. (DE, Fortune 500) all posting better-than-expected earnings Wednesday morning.

U.S. stocks finished lower Tuesday, posting their biggest losses in more than 2 weeks.

Companies: Borders Group, the nation's second largest book store chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced plans to close 30% of its stores.

The filing was not a surprise. Shares of the company have plunged almost 75% in 2011 in anticipation of the news. Borders has been struggling with declining sales since the recession took hold in 2008. It has also been hurt by growing competition from online book sellers.

Economy: A government report showed the number of housing starts rose more than expected in January, while permits for new construction were weaker than forecast.

Housing starts rose 14% to an annual rate of 596,000 units last month, while building permits, considered a leading indicator of activity, fell 10% to an annual rate of 562,000 in January.

* Food spike puts 44 million in poverty

The government's Producer Price Index, a measure of wholesale inflation, rose 0.8% in January. The increase was slightly larger than expected.

Minutes from the most recent meeting of the Federal Reserve released Wednesday showed that policymakers anticipate a bigger bump in economic growth for 2011 than they thought just a few months ago. But the Fed said the acceleration in growth will mainly be limited to the short term, as growth estimates for 2012 and 2013 were only slightly adjusted.

World markets: European stocks finished with gains. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.8%, the DAX in Germany edged 0.2% higher and France's CAC 40 added 1%.

Asian markets ended higher. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.8%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong jumped 1.1% and Japan's Nikkei ticked up 0.6%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar fell against the euro and the Japanese yen, but showed strength versus the British pound.

Oil prices spiked Wednesday following reports that Iran was moving warships through the Suez Canal on their way to Syria. Crude futures rose 67 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $84.99 per barrel.

Gold futures for April delivery rose $1 to $1,375.10 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury was little changed, with the yield at 3.62%

Image

Image Yahoo! Finance - Market Update

4:30 pm : Natural resource plays led the broader market to another session of strong gains. Data had little sway with traders, though.

Buying abroad overnight and this morning helped bring buyers back into action after the prior session's slip. The stock market's ability to bounce right back from that loss was also indicative that a buy-the-dip mentality continues to permeate trade.

Positive responses to the latest quarterly results from Comcast (CMCSA 25.13, +0.97), Dell (DELL 15.56, +1.65), and Deere (DE 95.86, +2.24) also helped perpetuate an upbeat tone.

Other corporate news included word that Genzyme (GENZ 75.10, +0.80) has agreed to be purchased by Sanofi-Aventis (SNY 34.95, +0.46) for $74 per share plus a Contingent Value Right. That announcement overshadowed disappointing results from GENZ.

Shares of discount retailers benefited from a strong bid after Trian Group issued a proposal to acquire Family Dollar (FDO 53.54, +9.58) for a price in the range of $55 to $60 per share in cash. The specified range represents a premium of at least 25% over FDO's prior session closing price.

Energy stocks and materials stocks made up the two strongest performing sectors. They both snapped back from sizable losses in the prior session to record gains of 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively. Both sectors steadily outperformed for virtually all of the session.

At its session high, the S&P 500 was up 0.7%, but some mid-session selling slashed that gain to less than 0.2%. Pressure intensified around the same time that Reuters reported the planned presence of two Iranian warships in the Suez Canal. Concern about potential geopolitical implications of such a move were pushed aside, at least for now, so that stocks could gradually recoup most of their gains and settle at new two-year closing highs.

Market participants had a relatively muted response to minutes from the latest FOMC meeting, even though the record indicated that the Fed has raised its economic forecast and noted that risks to GDP growth have diminished.

As for data, producer prices for January increased by 0.8%, which is slightly greater than the 0.7% increase that had been generally expected among economists surveyed by Brieifng.com. Producer prices had increased 1.1% in the prior month. As for core producer prices, they increased a more tepid 0.5% month over month, but that is still sharper than the 0.2% increase that had been widely expected after a 0.2% increase in the prior month.

Housing starts for January had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com to hit an annualized rate of 540,000, but instead they spiked 14.6% month over month to an annualized rate of 596,000. The surge makes for a sharp rebound from the downwardly revised 5.1% decline that was reported for the prior month.

Building permits for January dropped 10.4% from the prior month to an annualized rate of 562,000. After a 15.3% jump in the prior month, January building permits had been widely expected to come in at 575,000.

Industrial production for January was just posted. It fell 0.1%, which contrasts with the Briefing.com consensus call for a 0.6% increase.

Advancing Sectors: Energy (+1.3%), Materials (+1.2%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.8%), Tech (+0.8%), Financial (+0.6%), Health Care (+0.5%), Industrials (+0.4%), Consumer Staples (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Telecom (-0.3%), Utilities (-0.3%)DJ30 +61.53 NASDAQ +21.21 NQ100 +0.7% R2K +1.0% SP400 +0.7% SP500 +8.31 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1745/2.28 bln/904 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2256/926 mln/745

3:30 pm : Softs lead all commodities today, posting a 2.1% gain. May sugar rallied for 3.6% to finish at $0.2922 per pound, while May orange juice finished higher by 2.9% to $1.7115 per pound.

Late morning headlines that Iran is sending two warships through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean Sea, to Syria, sent a jolt through select commodity markets. The news reinforces the current geopolitical tumult going on in the Middle East. March crude oil finished up 0.8% to $84.99 per barrel. While prices initially spiked on the back of this news, they pulled back from session highs throughout the afternoon to end modestly better. It was an uneventful session for March natural gas, which closed off 1.5% to $3.92 per MMBtu.

April gold ended up 0.1% to $1375.10 per ounce, while March silver shed 0.2% to $30.63 per ounce. Both metals spiked, as the dollar index dropped, after the Iran news broke. However, neither metal was able to maintain its gains and pulled back to finish the day around unchanged. DJ30 +62.63 NASDAQ +21.85 SP500 +8.00 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1665/1.8 bln/941 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2232/645.6 mln/750

3:00 pm : Trade this session closes in an hour. As participants conclude trade today and prepare for tomorrow, their focus shifts toward a couple of key economic items.

Tomorrow morning brings the latest CPI reading. After a 0.4% increase in December -- the strongest monthly increase since June 2009 -- economists polled by Briefing.com have projected a CPI increase of 0.3% for January. Most of the gains in CPI are expected to come from increases in energy and food costs. The consensus expects that core prices increased 0.1%, the same rate as in December.

The latest weekly initial jobless claims tally is also due tomorrow. The Briefing.com consensus expects the initial claims level increased to 408,000 during the week ending February 12 after claims fell to 383,000 during the prior week. Last week's tally was the lowest since July 2008. There may be a slight bias in the initial claims level due to severe snowstorms that affected much of the Midwest and Northeast in the beginning of February, though. DJ30 +59.41 NASDAQ +21.08 SP500 +7.52 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1618/1.70 bln/994 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2188/600 mln/801

2:30 pm : Stocks have eased back since reaching an afternoon high. Overall gains remain solid, though.

Underlying action continues to feature strength among natural resource plays like energy stocks (+1.1%) and materials stocks (+1.0%) and weakness among defensive-oriented issues like telecom (-0.7%) and utilities (-0.6%).

The dollar has also slipped a bit in recent trade. It now trails a basket of competing currencies by 0.3%. DJ30 +44.73 NASDAQ +15.80 SP500 +5.32 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1561/1.58 bln/1013 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2120/575 mln/864

2:00 pm : Stocks have continued to reclaim gains after suffering a midsession sell-off, but a slight slip has followed the minutes from the latest FOMC meeting. According to the minutes, the Fed has raised its economic forecast and noted that risks to GDP growth have diminished. Projected increases in PCE are expected to remain subdued in 2011 and 2012.

Treasusuries have turned lower with the release of the minutes. That pushed the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note up to 3.63%. The yield on the 30-year Bond is now up to 4.68%. DJ30 +56.32 NASDAQ +19.77 SP500 +7.03 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1612/1.47 bln/964 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2172/509 mln/801

1:30 pm : Small-cap stocks and mid-cap stocks are out in front of the broader market with gains of 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively. Small-cap issues are currently led by La-Z-Boy (LZB 10.15, +1.87), Photronics (PLAB 9.59, +1.42), and Syneron Medical (ELOS 13.71, +2.03). Mid-cap plays are presently led by Aaron's (AAN 23.48, +3.11), ValueClick (VCLK 16.23, +1.43), and Frontier Oil (FTO 27.72, +1.70). Save for FTO, which reports next week, every one of those names made news for their strong quarterly results.DJ30 +40.49 NASDAQ +14.20 SP500 +5.38 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1545/1.34 bln/1009 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2124/466 mln/822

1:00 pm : Rekindled concerns about potential geopolitical tensions have pulled the broad market down from a fresh two-year high, but the overall tone of trade remains positive.

Stocks started the session in higher ground with help from overseas strength. Buyers were also bolstered by the premise that the stock market's ability to limit losses in the prior session was another indication of its resilience and that participants will presumably continue to buy the market's dips for fear of missing out on further gains.

Corporate news was generally positive. Comcast (CMCSA 24.99, +0.83) reported better-than-expected earnings and raised both its dividend and amount for share repurchases. Dell (DELL 15.44, +1.53) also had an upside surprise and issued strong guidance. Deere (DE 95.94, +2.32) had stronger-than-expected earnings, but its top line was light.

Genzyme (GENZ 75.38, +1.07) disappointed on both its bottom and top line, but most focus has been on the company's agreement to be purchased by Sanofi-Aventis (SNY 34.76, +0.27) for $74 per share plus a Contingent Value Right. A deal has long been in the works, but the two companies have struggled to find common ground.

In other merger and acquisition activity, Trian Group issued a proposal to acquire Family Dollar (FDO 53.54, +9.58) for a price in the range of $55 to $60 per share in cash. That has sent shares of FDO soaring and stoked interest in the rest of the discount retailer space. As such, Dollar General (DG 30.04, +3.11) is up sharply; analysts at Citigroup added the stock to their Top Picks Live list.

Although the tone of trade remains broadly positive, stocks recently surrendered a substantial chunk of their gains. The downturn followed a Reuters story that reported plans for two Iranian warships to sail through the Suez Canal today. The ominous movement of the ships comes amid continued pro-democracy protests in the region.

Oil prices responded positively to the report and climbed as high as $85.95 per barrel after they had pulled back in the wake of a relatively bullish weekly inventory report this morning. Oil prices are currently at $85.20 per barrel with a 1.1% gain.

Participants got another heavy dose of data this morning, but there was never anything more than a muted reaction to any of it.

Producer prices for January increased by 0.8%, which is slightly greater than what had been widely expected. Core producer prices increased a more tepid 0.5% month over month, but that is still sharper than what was anticipated.

Housing starts for January spiked 14.6% month over month to an annualized rate of 596,000, but building permits for January dropped 10.4% from the prior month to an annualized rate of 562,000.

Industrial production for January fell 0.1% in the face of calls for an increase.

Minutes from the latest FOMC meeting are scheduled for release at 2:00 PM ET.DJ30 +41.74 NASDAQ +14.67 SP500 +5.63 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1513/1.24 bln/1027 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2065/428 mln/858

12:30 pm : A recent flurry of selling caused stocks to roll over to session lows. Stocks are still in positive territory, though.

Treasuries have finally turned positive. The move has taken the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note out of its recent range to below 3.60%. DJ30 +33.34 NASDAQ +11.31 SP500 +4.21 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1440/1.12 bln/1067 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2027/385 mln/885

12:00 pm : Oil prices made a modest push higher after the release of the latest weekly oil inventory report, but then started to pullback until a recent flurry of buying drove prices to session highs. Oil currently trades with a 1.8% gain at $85.85 per barrel.

The recent bounce by oil comes in response to a Reuters report regarding plans for two Iranian warships to sail through the Suez Canal to Syria today. The news comes as pro-democracy protests continue to percolate in the region, giving rise to concerns about geopolitical tension.

The rise in oil prices has helped keep energy stocks near their session highs. The sector is up 1.2% with oil and gas equipment plays (+2.2%), drillers (+2.3%), and refiners (+2.6%) sporting the strongest gains. DJ30 +41.55 NASDAQ +16.13 SP500 +5.56 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1628/970 mln/857 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2246/325 mln/657

11:30 am : Stocks are starting to hand back some of their gains, but the overall tone of trade remains broadly positive. There isn't any clear cause for the pullback, but it has been relatively broad based.

Treasuries have trimmed losses in recent trade, thanks to the stock market's latest slip. The benchmark 10-year Note has yet to crack into positive territory, though.

Meanwhile, the dollar has also turned lower in recent trade. It had been up slightly against a basket of competing currencies this morning, but renewed support for the euro has undermined the dollar. The euro is currently up 0.4% to $1.354. DJ30 +45.34 NASDAQ +16.24 SP500 +5.37 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1634/816 mln/803 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2274/272 mln/618

11:00 am : Stocks recently extended their advance to fresh session highs. The move has been led by natural resource plays, which have been rather volatile this week.

Energy stocks and materials stocks make up the two best performing sectors today. They are up 1.2% and 1.3%, respectively. In the prior session, both sectors fell 1.1% as profit takers sold the heady gains that the two sectors had recorded on Monday.

Despite the stock market's upward push, telecom continues to trade with a 0.5% loss. Integrated telecom giant Verizon (VZ 36.20, -0.26) has been a primary source of weakness for the sector. DJ30 +70.96 NASDAQ +22.80 SP500 +9.37 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1672/635 mln/728 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2289/220 mln/564

10:30 am : Oil prices were trading around $84.80 per barrel in the minutes that preceded the weekly crude oil inventory numbers, which reported a build of just 860,000 barrels when a 2 million-barrel build had been expected. Prices have since turned higher so that they trade with a 0.9% gain at $85.05 per barrel.

Natural gas prices have succumbed to a stiff bout of selling. They are currently down 1.3% at $3.93 per MMBtu.

Precious metals have been hit with varied degrees of selling. Gold prices are now down 0.2% to $1371.40 per ounce while silver prices are off by 0.7% at $30.48 per ounce.DJ30 +62.40 NASDAQ +16.73 SP500 +6.71 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1652/385 mln/798 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2275/155 mln/552

10:00 am : Stocks started to drift back from their opening push, but buyers have since bid shares to new session highs. The S&P 500 now trades right in line with the 100% gain level from its 2009 low, which was just beneath 667.

Early strength has been broad in that nine of the 10 major sectors are in higher ground -- telecom continues to lag with its 0.6% loss. Consumer discretionary stocks had been early leaders, thanks to strength in retailers, but that sector has started to pull back so that it is now up 0.6%.

Outside of equities, the dollar is up narrowly against a basket of competing currencies. Most of its strength comes in conjunction with a 0.7% drop by the British pound to $1.602.

Treasuries are trading in a relatively tight range that has kept the benchmark 10-year Note down with a fractional loss.

Commodities are mixed at the moment, but the CRB Commodity Index has still made its way to a 0.5% gain.

Advancing Sectors: Consumer Discretionary (+0.6%), Materials (+0.6%), Energy (+0.5%), Health Care (+0.5%), Financial (+0.5%), Industrials (+0.4%), Tech (+0.4%), Consumer Staples (+0.2%)
Unchanged: Utilities
Declining Sectors: Telecom (-0.6%)DJ30 +48.82 NASDAQ +12.68 SP500 +6.11 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1520/199 mln/671 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2068/90 mln/606

09:45 am : The broad market is up nicely in the first few minutes of trade, but telecom stocks (-0.4%) have failed to attract buyers. Telecom is still the only major sector that has yet to put together any kind of year-to-date gain; the sector has shed 1.7%, so far, in 2011.

Retailers are attracting some of the strongest support in the early going. As a group, retailers ae up 1.0%. Family Dollar (FDO 54.75, +10.79) is a leader in the group following news that Trian Group issued a proposal to acquire the discount retailer at a price in the range of $55 to $60 per share in cash. The range provided represents a premium of at least 25% of FDO's prior session closing price.DJ30 +39.05 NASDAQ +11.33 SP500 +4.49 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1472/51 mln/514 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1695/30 mln/411

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +3.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.25. Strength overseas has provided a positive backdrop to early trade. Some participants have simply been encouraged by the stock market's ability to limit losses in the prior session without opening the door for a more concerted selling effort. That kind of resilience has bolstered the belief that buyers will continue to chase stocks and buy the market's dips for fear of missing out on future gains. Data has been a bit mixed so far, though. Producer prices proved mixed relative to expectations, housing permits spiked more than expected, but building permits fell sharper than what had been anticipated. Industrial production for January was just posted. It fell 0.1%, which contrasts with the Briefing.com consensus call for a 0.6% increase.

09:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +4.10. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.50. Domestic stock futures continue to trade with strength. Action abroad has helped foster a positive tone. Specifically, Germany's DAX is currently up 0.2%, which puts it at a new three-year high today. Deutsche Bank (DB) has shown leadership for the second straight session. Commerzbank has complemented its efforts. Daimler (DAI) has been a bit of a drag, though. France's CAC is up 0.9% to a two-year high amid leadership from Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) and Societe Generale. Sanofi-Aventis appears to be close to wrapping up its deal to acquire Genzyme (GENZ). Reports indicate GENZ will be acquired for $74 per share plus a Contingent Value Right. Societe Generale reported fourth quarter net income that exceeded what had been widely expected. Britain's FTSE is up 0.6% as advancers, led by HSBC (HBC), Vodafone (VOD), Astra Zeneca (AZN), and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), outnumber declining issues by 3-to-1. Metal and mining plays BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) are among the more notable laggards. The FTSE is still shy of the multiyear high that it set earlier this week. As for data, the United Kingdom Consumer Confidence poll for January came in at 47, down from 54 in December. Following a sharp increase in monthly consumer prices, the Bank of England reported that its CPI forecast calls for increases of close to 1.7% in two years. The British pound performed well in the prior session, but it is under pressure today.

In Asia, mainland China's Shanghai Composite climbed to a 0.9% gain as a broad bid helped advancers outnumber declining issues by 8-to-1. China Petroleum (SNP) was a primary leader, but PetroChina (PTR) was atop the list of laggards. Despite broad buying, the Index couldn't quite reach the two-month intraday high that it set in the prior session. Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 1.1% amid leadership from HSBC and China Construction Bank. However, fellow banking issues Bank East and Hang Seng Bank failed to follow and, instead, logged losses. Japan's Nikkei gained 0.6% to hit a nine-month high. TDK Corp, Softbank, and Tokyo ELectron were leaders. Honda Motor (HMC) and KDDI traded as laggards.

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +4.90. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +7.00. Stock futures continue to sport a modest lead over fair value. Any initial reaction to the latest dose of data has subsided. Producer prices for January increased by 0.8%, which is slightly greater than the 0.7% increase that had been generally expected among economists surveyed by Brieifng.com. Producer prices had increased 1.1% in the prior month. As for core producer prices, they increased a more tepid 0.5% month over month, but that is still sharper than the 0.2% increase that had been widely expected after a 0.2% increase in the prior month. Housing starts for January had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com to hit an annualized rate of 540,000, but instead they spiked 14.6% month over month to an annualized rate of 596,000. The surge makes for a sharp rebound from the downwardly revised 5.1% decline that was reported for the prior month. Building permits for January dropped 10.4% from the prior month to an annualized rate of 562,000. After a 15.3% jump in the prior month, January building permits had been widely expected to come in at 575,000.

08:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +5.40. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +8.30. Stock futures are up modestly this morning. Support stems from varied gains abroad and precedes another large dose of data, which includes the latest in housing starts, building permits, and producer prices (8:30 AM ET), followed by industrial production and capacity utilization data (9:15 AM ET), and minutes from the latest FOMC meeting (2:00 PM ET). In corporate news, Comcast (CMCSA) reported better-than-expected earnings and raised its dividend and share repurchase amount. Dell (DELL) also had an upside surprise and issued strong guidance. Deere (DE) had stronger-than-expected earnings, but its top line was light. Genzyme (GENZ) disappointed on both its bottom and top line, but the company has agreed to be purchased by Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) for $74 per share plus a Contingent Value Right. There is also news Trian Group has issued a proposal to acquire Family Dollar (FDO) for a price in the range of $55 to $60 per share in cash. Meanwhile, Air Products (APD) has withdrawn its offer for Airgas (ARG).

06:49 am : [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +4.70. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.30.

06:49 am : Nikkei...10808.29...+61.60...+0.60%. Hang Seng...23156.97...+257.20...+1.10%.

06:49 am : FTSE...6068.56...+31.50...+0.50%. DAX...7412.19...+12.10...+0.20%.

12:00 am : Oil prices were trading around $84.80 per barrel in the minutes that preceded the weekly crude oil inventory numbers, which reported a build of just 860,000 barrels when a 2 million-barrel build had been expected. Prices have since turned higher so that they trade with a 0.9% gain at $85.05 per barrel.

Natural gas prices have succumbed to a stiff bout of selling. They are currently down 1.3% at $3.93 per MMBtu.

Precious metals have been hit with varied degrees of selling. Gold prices are now down 0.2% to $1371.40 per ounce while silver prices are off by 0.7% at $30.48 per ounce. DJ30 +68.38 NASDAQ +18.35 SP500 +7.42 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1569/405 mln/720 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2180/154 mln/617

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

Best Regards,
M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body/bar analysis)
Price Action Trading (no technical indicators)
Image@ http://twitter.com/wrbtrader and http://stocktwits.com/wrbtrader

Phone: +1.708.572.4885
Business Hours: 8am - 5pm est (Mon - Fri)
Skype Messenger: kebec2002
questions@thestrategylab.com
Go Back To TheStrategyLab.com Homepage


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
Translated by Xaphos © 2007, 2008, 2009 phpBB.fr