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 Post subject: August 16th Thursday 2012 Emini TF ($TF_F) points +10.10
PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 9:43 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:06 pm
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Trade Results of M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body/bar analysis)
Price Action Trading (no technical indicators)

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click on the above image to view today's performance verification

Price Action Trade Performance for Today: +10.10 points or $1010 dollars in the Russell 2000 Emini TF ($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, all trades were posted real-time in the free #TheStrategyLab chat room. You can read today's #TheStrategyLab trading chat room logs for details (e.g. time, price, contract size) about each one of my trades from entry to exit along with price action commentary as the trade traversed in comparison to what's shown in the above image...all archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=107&t=1298.

Also, posted below are direct links to information about my price action 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 Price Action Analysis via 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=119&t=718.

Image Trade Signal Strategies via 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 price action 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=167&t=1561

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Market Summaries

The below summaries by Bloomberg, CNNMoney and Yahoo! Finance helps me to do a quick review of the fundamentals, FED/ECB/IMF actions or any important global economic events (e.g. Eurozone, MarketWatch.com) that had an impact on today's price action. Simply, I'm a strong believer that key market events causes key changes in supply/demand and volatility resulting in trade opportunities (swing points and strong continuation price actions) that reach profit targets. Thus, I pay attention to these key market events via WRB Analysis from one trade to the next trade to give me the market context before the appearance of my technical analysis trade signals. Therefore, I maintain these archives to allow me to understand what was happening on any given trading day in the past involving key market events to help better understand my trading and reactions to the markets...something I can not get from my broker statements alone.

U.S. Market Wrap

Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Deborah Kostroun reports on the performance of the U.S. equity market today. U.S. stocks advanced, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the highest level since April, as building permits jumped in July to a four-year peak and Cisco Systems Inc.'s earnings beat estimates.

Stocks End Higher On Cisco Earnings, Economic Data

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

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks closed solidly higher Thursday, as investors parsed through a mixed bag of economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 ended the day up 0.6%. The Nasdaq added 1%.

Cisco Systems helped fuel the rally after reporting a quarterly profit and sales Wednesday that rose from year-ago results and beat Wall Street's forecasts. It also boosted its dividend by 75%. Shares of Cisco (CSCO, Fortune 500), a Dow component, rose more than 9%.

Weekly figures for initial jobless claims increased, but came in lower than expected. Meanwhile, reports on housing starts and building permits showed further momentum in the housing market.
The afternoon rally after a mostly flat morning came without any clear catalyst.

"There's an old Wall Street saying to never short a dull market," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. The low-volume trading day, he said, "increases the odds of a sharp spike like today with everyone wondering what just happened."

Investors have grown more optimistic on the state of the housing market. Home prices and new construction have started to pick up in recent months as foreclosures have slowed. Still, it's been difficult for investors to find a theme to trade on, said several market watchers.

"We've seen some economic data that's been marginally positive, but overall the market narrative hasn't meaningfully changed over the last few weeks," said Joe Tanious, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

What has the potential to alter the narrative: another round of bond buying by the Federal Reserve. Investors are waiting to see whether Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will announce a so-called QE2 in his Jackson Hole, Wyoming speech at the end of the month.

* Social Media bubble pops

One exception to the slow volume of the past several weeks: Facebook (FB). More than 150 million shares changed hands Thursday, pushing the stock down as much as 7% to an all-time low, as the social media company's "lock-up period" expired. Facebook's insiders became eligible to sell off about 271 million shares Thursday, the first of a series of lock-up expirations for the company.

* Fear & Greed Index

Companies: Second quarter results from Wal-Mart Stores (, Fortune 500) showed that the retailer is still doing well in a sluggish economy. The company upped its forecast for the year's profits. However, both Wal-Mart and Sears Holdings (, Fortune 500), which also reported results, missed on revenue expectations. Wal-Mart's stock slid but Sears shares moved higher.

Shares in two companies, Electronic Arts () and Redbox parent company Coinstar (CSTR), soared on takeover speculation. The New York Post reported that both companies are targets for private equity firms.

Economy: The number of people filing for first-time jobless claims in the week ended Aug. 11 rose by 2,000 to 366,000, according to the Labor Department. The weekly figure came in lower than analysts' estimate of 368,000.

Housing market data also came in better than expected, with housing starts up almost 22% from a year earlier, while building permits rose nearly 30% from July 2011.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region contracted again in August. The index came in at minus 7.1, weaker than the forecast of minus 5.. The figure was an improvement from minus 12.9 in July.

World Markets: European stocks closed higher. Britain's FTSE 100 finished the day up 0.03%. France's CAC 40 added 0.7%, and the DAX in Germany edged 0.9% higher.

Asian markets closed mixed. The Shanghai Composite shed 0.3% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.5%, while Japan's Nikkei gained 1.9%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro and Japanese yen, but slipped against the British pound.

Oil for September delivery notched up $1.27 to $95.60 a barrel.

Gold futures for December delivery rose $12.60 to $1,619.20 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury moved up slightly, pushing the yield up to 1.84% from 1.81% late Wednesday.

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Market Update

4:10 pm : Equities showed indecision during the first hour of the session but were lifted higher as the day went on. A notable increase in housing permits and in-line initial claims data supported the day's advances. The major indices retreated off their highs before the close but still ended firmly in the black. The Nasdaq gained 1.0% and the S&P ended higher by 0.7%.

Nasdaq-listed shares outperformed on a few names making big moves.

Blyth (BTH 43.36, +6.27) soared 16.9% after filing the registration statement for an initial public offering of its ViSalus brand. The size or the price of the offering has not been announced but Blyth will remain a majority shareholder.

Coinstar (CSTR 51.88, +3.66) surged 7.6% after reports suggested the company is discussing a potential sale with a private equity firm. Shares of the Redbox video rental kiosk operator have been mired in a slump since reaching an all-time high of $71.82 in early July.

Network solutions providers were generally higher today. Cisco Systems (CSCO 19.02, +1.67) surged 9.6% after beating earnings estimates and reporting in-line revenue. The company also increased the quarterly dividend by 75% to $0.14. Competitor F5 Networks (FFIV 104.05, +4.76) advanced 4.8% as it piggybacked the positive Cisco results.

Meanwhile, Facebook (FB 19.87, -1.33) plunged 6.3% as the insider lock-up period expired. Starting today, 271 million additional shares may be traded on the open market. Pressure caused by today's selling has dropped the social media company to an all-time low since its May initial public offering.

A handful of notable second quarter earnings releases remain on the calendar. Aeropostale (ARO 13.66, +0.03) and Gap (GPS 34.34, -0.27) will deliver final reports for apparel producers after today's close. Aeropostale is expected to break even on $488.65 million in revenues. Meanwhile, analysts expect Gap to earn $0.47 on revenues of $3.52 billion.

Foot Locker (FL 34.49, -0.03) and J.M. Smucker (SJM 78.97, 0.00) will report their results ahead of tomorrow's open. Forecasts expect Foot Locker to earn $0.33 on $1.35 billion in revenues while J.M. Smucker is expected to report earnings of $1.00 on $1.30 billion in revenues.

Today's economic data indicated a rise in housing permits. At 812,000, the reading was well ahead of the expected 770,000, and it was received as a possible sign of a housing rebound. Separately, housing starts hit an annualized rate of 746,000 units during July. This number was below the 763,000 that was expected. Homebuilder stocks responded positively to the data as the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB 23.09, +0.72) added 3.2%. Builder KB Home (KBH 10.89, +0.57) jumped 5.5% after this morning's data.

The Philadelphia Fed Survey rose to -7.1 for August. That comes after a reading of -12.9 for July. The print constitutes a small miss as economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that the Survey would improve to a -5.0 reading.

The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 366,000, which was just below the 368,000 that had been expected. The tally was also up from the revised prior week count of 364,000. As for continuing claims, they fell to about 3.305 million from 3.336 million.

Tomorrow's economic calendar includes just two releases. The Michigan Sentiment for August will be released at 9:55 AM ET while leading indicators will be reported at 10 AM ET.DJ30 +85.33 NASDAQ +31.46 SP500 +9.98 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1697/1.89 bln/739 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2167/595.9 mln/829

3:30 pm : Crude oil advanced in today's floor trade as the dollar weakened. It came off its session low of $94.11 per barrel and steadily climbed higher, settling with a 1.4% gain at $95.69 per barrel, just below its session high of $95.73 per barrel. It is worth noting that reports came out moments before the close suggesting that the White House is "dusting off old plans" on a potential oil reserve release as prices rise.

Natural gas popped to a pit session high of $2.84 per MMBtu in response to better-than-anticipated inventory data that showed a build of 20 bcf when a build of 30 bcf was expected. The move was short lived, however, as prices slid to a session low of $2.68 per MMBtu just moments later. Natural gas moved back into positive territory but gave up all of its gains heading into the close and settled the session 1.1% lower at $2.72 per MMBtu.

Precious metals popped into positive territory in reaction to U.S. payroll and home construction data and continued to advance as the dollar declined. Gold touched a session high of $1622.00 per ounce but pulled-back slightly and consolidated in afternoon action. Nevertheless, the yellow metal booked a gain of 0.8% as it closed at $1619.30 per ounce. Silver brushed a session high of 28.24 per ounce moments before it settled pit trade at $28.20 per ounce, or 1.4% higher.DJ30 +98.91 NASDAQ +35.91 SP500 +11.59 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1656/1607.9 mln/767 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2147/405 mln/832

3:00 pm : As the U.S. session enters its final hour, stocks are near their highs. The S&P is up 0.8%.

A handful of notable second quarter earnings releases remain on the calendar. Aeropostale (ARO 13.44, -0.19) and Gap (GPS 34.47, -0.14) will deliver final reports for apparel producers after today's close. Aeropostale is expected to break even on $488.65 million in revenues. Meanwhile, analysts expect Gap to earn $0.47 on revenues of $3.52 billion.

Foot Locker (FL 34.77, +0.25) and J.M. Smucker (SJM 78.91, -0.06) will report their results ahead of tomorrow's open. Forecasts expect Foot Locker to earn $0.33 on $1.35 billion in revenues while J.M. Smucker is expected to report earnings of $1.00 on $1.30 billion in revenues.DJ30 +98.76 NASDAQ +34.19 SP500 +10.93 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1608/1.45 bln/800 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2115/361.5 mln/866

2:30 pm : Stocks continue drifting higher on thin volume. The S&P is up 0.7%.

Today's economic data indicated a rise in housing permits. At 812,000, the reading was well ahead of the expected 770,000 and it was received as a possible sign of a housing rebound. Homebuilder stocks have responded positively to the data with the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB 23.04, +0.67) higher by 3.0%. Builder KB Home (KBH 10.83, +0.51) is surging 5.0% after this morning's data.DJ30 +82.86 NASDAQ +30.89 SP500 +9.59 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1590/1.33 bln/798 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2057/324.4 mln/905

2:00 pm : Stocks are maintaining their levels just below session highs. The S&P 500 is up 0.6%.

Notable retail names are seeing mixed performance after reporting their quarterly results. Wal-Mart (WMT 72.07, -2.38) is lower by 3.2% after a slim earnings beat. The retail giant reported revenues slightly below expectations and reaffirmed full-year guidance. Company shares are seeing their first significant down day since staging a steady rise from the $59.00 level after the last earnings report in late May.

Meanwhile, Sears Holdings (SHLD 59.61, +3.01) is higher by 5.3% after exceeding earnings expectations by $0.10 and missing revenue forecasts. It is worth noting that last Monday the retailer announced plans to spin off 1,200 stores which will be listed under the ticker ‘SHOS.'DJ30 +72.37 NASDAQ +27.10 SP500 +8.60 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1565/1.22 bln/814 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2022/296.4 mln/905

1:30 pm : Stocks are carving out new highs as the S&P 500 continues its steady afternoon climb. The index is up 0.6%.

Network solutions providers are generally higher today. Cisco Systems (CSCO 18.86, +1.51) is surging 8.8% after beating earnings estimates and reporting in-line revenue. The company also increased the quarterly dividend by 75% to $0.14. Competitor F5 Networks (FFIV 104.03, +4.74) is higher by 4.8% as it piggybacks the positive Cisco results. Meanwhile, NetApp (NTAP 33.19, +1.44) is advancing 4.7% after beating on earnings, missing revenue forecasts, and issuing in-line guidance.DJ30 +76.72 NASDAQ +27.74 SP500 +8.85 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1564/1.12 bln/800 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2054/272.1 mln/871

1:00 pm : After early indecision, stocks have pushed to new session highs. At the midway point, the Nasdaq is up 0.9% while the S&P 500 and Dow are higher by 0.6%.

Nasdaq-listed shares are outperforming on a few names making big moves.

Blyth (BTH 44.14, +7.05) is soaring 19.0% after filing the registration statement for an initial public offering of its ViSalus brand. The size or the price of the offering has not been announced but Blyth will remain a majority shareholder.

Coinstar (CSTR 51.40, +3.18) is surging 6.6% after reports suggested the company is discussing a potential sale with a private equity firm. Shares of the Redbox video rental kiosk operator have been mired in a slump since reaching an all-time high of $71.82 in early July.

GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT 5.73, +0.34) is jumping 6.2% on heavy volume as the exact cause of the big move up is not yet known.

Health Care stocks are today's weakest performer with Agilent Technologies (A 37.08, -3.40) sliding 8.4% after missing on earnings, revenues, and issuing downside guidance. Another sector component Perrigo (PRGO 109.02, -7.57) is slumping 6.5% after missing revenue forecasts. The company posted a slight earnings beat and issued guidance in-line with expectations.

Two apparel retailers are seeing mixed reaction to their earnings. Perry Ellis (PERY 18.56, -3.71) is plunging 16.7% after missing on earnings and revenues. The company reaffirmed full-year revenue expectations but lowered its earnings estimates below consensus. Over the past week, shares of the company climbed 22% to $22.00 as investors anticipated the results.

Limited Brands (LTD 48.99, 0.00) is flat despite beating earnings and revenue expectations. Investor excitement has been muted after the company lowered its third quarter earnings expectations. The stock has been resilient as it managed to recover most of its losses after starting the session down almost 2.0%.

Today's economic data was mostly in-line with expectations.

The Philadelphia Fed Survey rose to -7.1 for August. That comes after a reading of -12.9 for July. The print constitutes a small miss as economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that the Survey would improve to a -5.0 reading.

The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 366,000, which was lower than the 368,000 that had been expected. The tally was also up from the revised prior week count of 364,000. As for continuing claims, they fell to about 3.305 million from 3.336 million.

Separately, housing starts hit an annualized rate of 746,000 units during July. The economists polled by Briefing.com had expected the housing starts to hit an annual rate closer to 763,000. Prior month figures were revised upward to reflect an annual rate of 760,000 housing starts.

As for building permits, they rose from the prior month's upwardly revised rate of 770,000 to 812,000 for July. That is above the pace of 770,000 building permits that had been expected among economists polled by Briefing.com.DJ30 +72.50 NASDAQ +26.33 SP500 +8.38 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1534/1.04 bln/796 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2035/251.7 mln/860

12:30 pm : Equities are hovering just below their session highs. The S&P 500 is higher by 0.5%.

Two apparel retailers are seeing mixed reaction to their earnings. Perry Ellis (PERY 18.56, -3.71) is plunging 16.7% after missing on earnings and revenues. The company reaffirmed full-year revenue expectations but lowered its earnings estimates below consensus. Over the past week, shares of the company climbed 22.2% to $22.00 as investors anticipated the results.

Limited Brands (LTD 48.85, -0.14) is down 0.3% despite beating earnings and revenue expectations. Investor excitement has been muted after the company lowered its third quarter earnings expectations. The stock has been resilient as it managed to recover most of its losses after starting the session down almost 2.0%.DJ30 +65.86 NASDAQ +23.00 SP500 +7.09 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1467/951.3 mln/847 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1984/229.7 mln/913

12:00 pm : Stocks continue pushing to new session highs as the S&P 500 is up 0.6%.

Health Care stocks are today's weakest performer. Agilent Technologies (A 37.33, -3.15) is sliding 7.8% after missing on earnings, revenues, and issuing downside guidance. Another sector component Perrigo (PRGO 108.61, -7.99) is slumping 6.9% after missing revenue forecasts. The company posted a slight earnings beat and issued guidance in-line with expectations.DJ30 +55.53 NASDAQ +24.02 SP500 +7.45 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1417/850.5 mln/875 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1984/203.7 mln/886

11:30 am : As European markets close, stocks are near their session highs. The Nasdaq is up 0.6% and the S&P 500 is higher by 0.3%.

Nasdaq shares continue outperforming on a few names making big moves.

Coinstar (CSTR 52.68, +4.46) is surging 9.3% after reports suggested the company is discussing a potential sale with a private equity firm. Shares of the Redbox video rental kiosk operator have been mired in a slump since reaching an all-time high of $71.82 in early July.

GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT 5.88, +0.49) is soaring 9.1% on heavy volume as the exact cause of the big move up is not yet known.DJ30 +37.79 NASDAQ +17.70 SP500 +4.99 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1223/724.1 mln/1012 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1777/172.2 mln/1070

11:00 am : Stocks have pushed to new session highs as technology stocks outperform the broader market. The Nasdaq is up 0.5% while the S&P 500 is higher by 0.3%.

Facebook (FB 19.90, -1.30) is sliding 6.1% as the insider lock-up period expires. Starting today, 271 million more shares may be traded on the open market. Pressure caused by today's selling has dropped the shares of the social media company to an all-time low since its May IPO.DJ30 +33.53 NASDAQ +15.27 SP500 +4.10 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1144/596.8 mln/1068 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1690/142.2 mln/1104

10:35 am : In the energy space, Sept crude oil has been in positive territory for most of the morning and ran as high as $94.87/barrel. Oil lost some steam when open-outcry trading began, but has bounced back out of the red and is now modestly higher. Right now, oil just rallied to a new HoD of $95.12/barrel.

Sept natural gas has been in positive territory almost al morning. Overnight, nat gas hit the current high for the day at $2.79 but was flat heading into the inventory data. Following the data, the EIA reported a build of vs. consensus which called for a build of 30 bcf, nat gas spiked to a new HoD of $2.84/MMBtu. Nat gas is now +1% at $2.78/MMBtu.

In metals, Dec gold and Sept silver spiked higher earlier this morning following economic data (jobs and housing), which pushed gold into positive territory and to a new session high of $1611.20. Silver rallied to its own new HoD of $27.91.

Both precious metals just spiked to a new session high (Gold $1616.60, Silver $28.05) and are near that level in current action. Sept copper is trading 0.02 higher this morning at $3.36/lb. Gold is now +0.6% at $1615.90/oz, while silver is +0.8% at $28.04/oz.NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 954/448.4 mln/1192 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1416/108 mln/1346

10:00 am : The Philadelphia Fed Survey rose to -7.1 for August. That comes after a reading of -12.9 for July. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that the Survey would improve to a -5.0 reading for August.DJ30 -3.33 NASDAQ +5.87 SP500 +0.19 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 833/289.2 mln/1231 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1337/75.2 mln/1366

09:45 am : Equities are fighting to stay in positive territory. After opening higher by 0.2%, the S&P 500 is currently flat.

Blyth (BTH 45.20, +8.11) is soaring 21.7% after filing the registration statement for an initial public offering of its ViSalus brand. The size or the price of the offering has not been announced but Blyth will remain a majority shareholder.DJ30 -10.94 NASDAQ +6.21 SP500 +0.08 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 816/178.2 mln/1164 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1322/53.8 mln/1285

09:15 am : [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +2.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +12.00. Heading into the open, futures have retreated off their highs but still indicate a slightly higher start to the session. The S&P 500 futures are up 0.2%.

The technology sector bears watching today after a few names reported earnings. Cisco Systems (CSCO 18.66, +1.30) and NetApp (NTAP 32.40, +0.65) trade higher in pre-market while Applied Materials (AMAT 11.35, -0.45) is lower after issuing disappointing guidance.

The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey will be reported at 10 AM ET.

09:01 am : [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +2.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +10.50. Global markets have been relatively quiet today with most indices hovering near their unchanged levels.

The major Asian bourses finished mixed as uncertainty remains as to the course of central bank action next month. China's Ministry of Finance warned that corporate profits may slow heading into year-end as exports are likely to weaken. Data in the region was mixed as China's foreign direct investment disappointed with a -3.6% YTDoY reading, South Korea's unemployment rate eased to 3.1%, and Australia's MI Inflation Expectations fell to 2.4% (3.3% previous).

In Japan, the Nikkei closed higher by 1.9%, and ended at its best level in six weeks. The index outperformed as a weaker yen lifted shares. Exporters saw strong gains as Toyota Motor added 3.2% while robotics maker Fanuc tacked on 4.3%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished lower by 0.5% as today's selloff dropped the index to a two-week low. The index was dragged down by heavyweight China Mobile which slumped 5.0% following its disappointing earnings. Losses were limited thanks to a 6.4% surge in Tencent Holdings that came on the heels of its earnings beat.

In China, the Shanghai Composite shed 0.3% as financials underperformed. Citic Bank fell 0.8% and China Construction Bank shed 0.3%. Tsingtao Brewery ended down 4.0% after earnings disappointed.

European markets are staying in a tight range after receiving strong UK retail sales data for July and in-line Eurozone CPI. UK's FTSE is down 0.2% while Germany's DAX and France's CAC are unchanged.

In the UK, financials appear on both ends of the spectrum. Banks are the current session leaders while insurance companies lag. Lloyds Banking Group is higher by 3.3% while Royal Bank of Scotland is up 2.1%. Admiral Group and Prudential are down 2.2% and 1.8%, respectively.

Germany's DAX is unchanged as steel maker ThyssenKrupp leads the way, up 2.4%. Merck is also making a considerable move in a quiet market. Shares of the drug maker are advancing 2.8%. Session laggards are posting limited losses with Fresenius Medical Care and SAP down 0.7% and 0.4%, respectively.

In France, the CAC is trying to break into positive territory as Veolia Environnement rallies for a second consecutive day. Shares of the utility company are up 3.7%. Another session leader, Alcatel-Lucent is higher by 3.4%. Pharmaceutical company Sanofi lags on the index and is down 1.4%.

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +4.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +13.50.

The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 366,000, which is lower than the 368,000 that had been expected. The tally is also up from the revised prior week count of 364,000. As for continuing claims, they fell to about 3.305 million from 3.336 million.

Separately, housing starts hit an annualized rate of 746,000 units during July. The consensus call among economists polled by Briefing.com had called for housing starts to hit an annual rate closer to 763,000. Prior month figures were revised upward to reflect an annual rate of 760,000 housing starts.

As for building permits, they rose from the prior month's upwardly revised rate of 770,000 to 812,000 for July. That is above the pace of 770,000 building permits that had been expected among economists polled by Briefing.com.

Futures spiked to pre-market highs following the data's release.

07:59 am : [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +2.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +9.50. U.S. equity futures are slightly higher amid quiet pre-market trading.

European economic data was limited to Eurozone CPI and UK retail sales, and their markets are mixed with the major regional indices hovering near their unchanged levels. The UK retail sales for July beat expectations and the Eurozone CPI was in-line. The markets have shrugged off the data as the FTSE is lower by 0.1% and Germany's DAX is up 0.2%. France's CAC is unchanged.

In Asia, comments made by China's Premier Wen Jiabao stirred up stimulus speculation once again as he insisted the nation will meet 2012 economic and social development targets. He added that declining inflation gives room to modify monetary policy. Following the commentary, Nomura projected an RRR cut sometime this month. Though, this may have lifted sentiment with in the region, the Shanghai was left behind, closing the day in negative territory after China's Foreign Direct Investment saw the largest decline since Nov of 2009 and widely missed expectations. The Shanghai Composite shed 0.3% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.5%. The Nikkei was the bullish outlier as it advanced 1.9%.

Few names are making notable pre-market moves.

Electronic Arts (EA 14.90, +1.81) is surging 13.8% after New York Post suggested the company may be an acquisition target with a price tag of $20.00 per share.

Cisco Systems (CSCO 18.36, +1.01) is higher by 5.9% after beating earnings estimates and reporting in-line revenue. The company also increased the quarterly dividend by 75% to $0.14.

Applied Materials (AMAT 11.33, -0.47) is lower by 3.9% after reporting mixed earnings. The company beat on earnings and reported revenues in-line. However, fourth quarter expectations were lowered.

Wal-Mart (WMT 71.99, -2.46) is down 3.3% despite delivering in-line earnings and revenues.

Today's economic data will be focused on jobs, housing, and manufacturing. Housing starts, building permits, and initial and continuing unemployment claims will be reported at 8:30 AM ET. The monthly Philadelphia Fed survey will be released at 10 AM ET.

06:28 am : [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +1.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +5.00.

06:28 am : Nikkei...9092.76...+167.70...+1.90%. Hang Seng...19962.95...-89.30...-0.50%.

06:28 am : FTSE...5821.07...-12.00...-0.20%. DAX...6952.34...+5.50...+0.10%.

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)
Image@ http://twitter.com/wrbtrader and http://stocktwits.com/wrbtrader

http://www.thestrategylab.com
Phone: +1 708 572-4885
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