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 Post subject: December 26th Thursday Trade Results - No Trades
PostPosted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 6:45 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)
Phone: +1 708 572-4885
Free Chat Room: http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewforum.php?f=164
Business Hours: 8am - 5pm est (Mon - Fri)
questions@thestrategylab.com (24/7)
http://twitter.com/wrbtrader (24/7)

Quote:
No trades today because I'm still celebrating the Christmas holidays with family. Yet, I may trade on Friday December 27th. Merry Christmas to all traders worldwide and safe holidays.

Price Action Trade Performance for Today: Emini TF ($TF_F) futures @ $0.00 dollars or +0.00 points, Emini ES ($ES_F) futures @ $0.00 dollars or +0.00 points, Light Crude Oil CL ($CL_F) futures @ $0.00 dollars or +0.00 points, Gold GC ($GC_F) futures @ $0.00 dollars or +0.00 points and EuroFX 6E ($6E_F) futures @ $0.00 dollars or +0.0000 ticks. Total Profit @ $0.00 dollars.

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
Light Crude Oil CL (WTI) Futures: 1 tick or 0.01 = $10.00 dollars and there's more contract information @ CMEGroup
Gold GC Futures: 1 tick or 0.10 = $10.00 dollars and there's more contract information @ CMEGroup
EuroFX 6E Futures: 1 tick or 0.0001 = $12.50 dollars and there's more contract information @ CMEGroup

In addition, all of my trades were posted real-time in the chat room. You can read today's chat room logs for details about each one of my trades via price action trading from entry to exit (e.g. time, price, contract size) along with price action commentary as the trade traversed to its completion...all archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=124&t=1680

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). I'm primarily a day trader because it suits my personal lifestyle but I do occasionally swing trade and position trade. Simply, my trade method is applicable for position trading, swing trading and day trading.

Image ##TheStrategyLab Chat Room is free. Members and I use the chat room to post WRB Analysis commentary, real-time trades and to post anything else related to trading. The chat room helps me tremendously in my own trading because I use it to document (journal) my thought process from trade to trade so that I can easily review at a later date my thoughts as I interacted with the markets...info I can not get from my broker statements. Also, this is not a signal calling chat room where a head trader tells you when to buy or sell. If you join the chat room and then you do not ask any questions about WRB Analysis in your own trading...the chat room will not be useful to you. Chat room access instructions @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewforum.php?f=164

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 (answering your questions) prior to purchasing the Volatility Trading Report (VTR).

Image Trading Plan Daily Routine @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=226&t=2114

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Market Context Summaries

The below summaries by Bloomberg, CNNMoney, Reuters and Yahoo! Finance helps me to do a quick review of the fundamentals, FED/ECB/BOE/IMF actions or any important global economic events (e.g. Eurozone, MarketWatch.com) that had an impact on today's price action in many trading instruments I monitor during the trading day. 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, intermarket analysis (e.g. Forex EurUsd, EuroFX 6E futures, Gold GC futures, Light Crude Oil (WTI) CL & Brent Oil futures, Eurex DAX futures, Euronext FTSE100 futures, Emini ES futures, Emini TF futures, Treasury ZB futures and U.S. Dollar Index futures) while using WRB Analysis from one trade to the next trade to give me the market context for price action trading 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 trade decisions (day trading, swing trading, position trading)...something I can not get from my broker statements alone.

Stocks: The Gifts Keep Coming

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

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Christmas may be over, but it seems Santa is still delivering good news for investors.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at a record high for the 50th time this year. The S&P 500 also ended at a record high and the Nasdaq marked a new 13-year high.

U.S. markets were closed Wednesday for the Christmas holiday break. Trading volume has been below average, with many professional money managers taking the week off or working remotely.

Still, the week is turning out to be a good one for stocks, with not much bad news to stop investors from taking the market on an incredible year-end rally.

Over the past 100 years, the Dow has gained during the week of Christmas 68% of the time, according to Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Markets have charted big gains this year. The Dow and S&P 500 are both up more than 20%, while the Nasdaq has soared over 30%.

The broad rally puts the Dow on track for its best year since 2003 and the S&P 500 on pace for its best year since 1997.

This year's gains have been driven by ongoing economic stimulus from the Federal Reserve, increased confidence in the economy, solid corporate earnings growth and more individual investors entering the stock market.

* China's $50 billion move to avert cash crunch

The Fed announced earlier this month that it will modestly reduce its bond buying program in January. But many experts believe the bull market, which began in early 2009, will continue for a sixth year in 2014, albeit at a more modest pace.

Meanwhile, the bond market continues to retreat. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note briefly traded at 3% on Thursday, matching the highest level of the year.

On the economic front, initial claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, according to government data released Thursday.

Shares of UPS (UPS, Fortune 500) and FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500) were little changed despite delays that caused both package delivery companies to miss holiday deadlines. Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) offered a $20 gift card and also a refund of shipping charges for customers who did not receive their packages on time.

The problems with UPS come weeks after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos unveiled plans to use unmanned aerial vehicles -- or drones -- to deliver small packages in four to five years.

"$AMZN bring on the drones move over $UPS," said StockTwits user tferraro5.

While the delays were a public relations headache for UPS, some traders see a sliver lining.

"$UPS is so busy they can't even get all their packages delivered? Sounds like profit to me," said Acropolis.

Twitter (TWTR) continued a spectacular rally. Shares of the social media company rose 5%. The stock has gained more than 76% in December and has more than doubled in price since its November IPO.

Some traders said the run is being driven by large institutional investors and that once they stop buying, Twitter shares will crash.

"$TWTR This is going to fall. HARD. And those left holding after the big boys leave will be sorry..." said mo_karney.

Others were predicting even more gains for Twitter, which is currently trading at just under $74 a share.

"$TWTR blue bird wants to see $80 before 2014," said tecrider.

Many European and Asian markets were closed for Boxing Day. The Nikkei gained 1%. Japan's stock exchange is up 51% for the year, making it the best performing global benchmark.

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4:15 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Not much stood in the way of the major averages on Thursday as they continued their year-end rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.8%) logged its sixth consecutive gain while the S&P 500 (+0.5%) posted its fourth advance in a row. However, both ended the session at fresh record highs.

Despite the steady, day-long rally in the Dow and S&P, the Nasdaq (+0.3%) spent the entire session inside of a ten-point range, and settled essentially where it started the day.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq saw its rally attempts short-circuited by its top component, Apple (AAPL 563.90, -3.77), which fell 0.7%. Meanwhile, the S&P technology sector inched higher throughout the day and settled with a modest gain of 0.3%.

Outside of technology, the financial sector (+0.2%) was the only cyclical group that could not keep pace with the broader market. The remaining four cyclical sectors-consumer discretionary (+0.6%), energy (+0.9%), industrials (+0.7%), and materials (+0.6%)-all finished ahead of the S&P.

Of those four outperformers, energy and industrials provided leadership from the opening bell. The energy sector maintained its relative strength into the close while crude oil was limited to an increase of 0.4% (to $99.59/bbl). Top-weighted components, Chevron (CVX 124.81, +1.30) and ExxonMobil (XOM 100.90, +1.68) underpinned the growth-sensitive sector and their strength also factored into the outperformance of the Dow.

The price-weighted Dow also drew strength from 3M (MMM 138.29, +1.30) and Boeing (BA 138.27, +1.44), both of which helped the industrial sector (+0.7%) end not far behind energy.

Over on the countercyclical side, the third-largest S&P sector, health care (+0.7%), outperformed while consumer staples (+0.4%) and utilities (-0.4%) lagged. For its part, the telecom services sector (+0.5%) finished in-line with the broader market.

In part, the underperformance of utilities was rooted in the continued rise in yields. The 10-yr note slipped as its yield tested 3.000% before settling at 2.990%. Since the tapering announcement, the benchmark yield has added almost 11 basis points.

Participation was well, well, well-below average as only 411 million shares (versus an average of 726 million) changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Did we mention that today's participation was on the light side?

Although the broader market did not see much volume, Twitter (TWTR 73.21, +3.35) maintained its torrid pace on heaviest volume (82.5 million) since its market debut. The stock surged 4.8%, extending its December gain to 76.4%.

Today's economic data was limited to weekly initial claims, which dropped to 338,000 from an upwardly revised rate of 380,000 (from 379,000) while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decline to 350,000. Seasonal adjustment issues have been a recurring theme in claims data for the past few months, and the trend continued in today's report.

There is no economic data of note on tomorrow's schedule.

Nasdaq +38.0% YTD
Russell 2000 +36.9% YTD
S&P 500 +29.2% YTD
DJIA +25.8% YTD

3:35 pm: [BRIEFING.COM]

Commodities end the day mostly higher
Gold and silver futures rallied early on in today's session with silver pushing above $20/oz and gold rising near $1215/oz
At the end of pit trading today, Feb gold rose $8.70 to $1212/oz, while Mar silver gained $0.44 to $19.91/oz
Crude oil rallied off its morning low... Feb crude finished $0.62 higher at $99.55/barrel
Natural gas sold off, but recovered today. Jan nat gas rose 3 cents on the day to $4.44/MMBtu

3:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] With one hour remaining in today's session, the major averages hover near their highs. The Dow and S&P 500 have climbed steadily throughout the trading day while the Nasdaq (+0.3%) essentially trades where it started the session.

Even though the technology sector has been climbing steadily, the tech-heavy Nasdaq has spent the entire session inside of a ten-point range. The largest index component, Apple (AAPL 565.29, -2.38), has done its part in putting the brakes on any potential rally as it trades lower by 0.5%.

2:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] At the risk of sounding redundant, we can't help but to report that the major averages have continued their slow push higher with the S&P 500 extending its gain to 0.5%.

Today's economic data was limited to weekly initial claims, which dropped to 338,000 from a revised rate of 380,000 (from 379,000). The Briefing.com consensus expected the initial claims level to fall to 350,000. Over the past several months, seasonal adjustment problems have introduced unwarranted volatility in the claims data. According to the Department of Labor, the problems continued as the Christmas and New Year holidays disrupted the adjustment components.

Tomorrow's session will be free of economic data and next week shapes up to be relatively quiet as well. Most notably, the Consumer Confidence report will cross the wires on Tuesday at 10:00 ET. The Briefing.com consensus expects the reading to jump to 76.1 from 70.4 that was reported for November.

2:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Not much has changed since our last update as the S&P 500 stayed true to its uptrends over the past 30 minutes. The top-performing group-energy (+0.9%)-has padded its gain even as crude oil (+0.3%) hovers near its morning levels.

Starting with our 12:30 ET update, we have been highlighting NYSE floor volume to show how limited today's participation has been. At that time the volume total hovered near 150 million. Two-and-a-half hours later, the NYSE volume has finally inched past the 200-million mark.

1:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Recent action saw the S&P 500 (+0.4%) inch to a fresh high with help from today's top-performing sectors. Trading volume remains well below average, and we have yet to see the NYSE floor volume climb above 200 million shares.

Today's steady push higher has translated into another decline for the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 11.97, -0.51), which is experiencing its third consecutive down day as it hovers near levels last seen at the start of August.

12:55 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] At midday, the major averages display modest gains with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.6%) trading ahead of its peers. The broader S&P 500 holds a slimmer advance of 0.4% as nine of ten sectors hover in the green.

The price-weighted Dow owes its outperformance to a handful of top-weighted names like 3M (MMM 138.35, +1.36), Boeing (BA 138.16, +1.33), Chevron (CVX 124.39, +0.88), and ExxonMobil (XOM 100.63, +1.41). Fittingly, the four names fall under the umbrella of either the energy (+0.7%) or industrial (+0.6%) sectors, both of which trade ahead of the remaining eight groups.

Outside of energy and industrials, the other cyclical sectors are somewhat mixed. The financial sector (+0.1%) and technology (+0.3%) lag, but their modest underperformance has had a limited impact on the broader market. The other two growth-sensitive sectors-consumer discretionary (+0.5%) and materials (+0.5%)-outperform.

Over on the countercyclical side, the third-largest S&P 500 sector-health care-outperforms with a gain of 0.5%. Biotechnology has contributed to the advance with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 226.71, +1.21) trading higher by 0.5%.

The remaining countercyclical groups-consumer staples (+0.3%), telecom services (+0.1%), and utilities (-0.5%) all trail the broader market.

The underperformance of utilities can likely be traced to the continued rise in yields. The 10-yr note trades lower by three ticks with its yield at 2.994% after briefly touching the 3.000% level, which was the highest mark for the benchmark yield since August 2011.

Today's economic data was limited to weekly initial claims, which dropped to 338,000 from an upwardly revised rate of 380,000 (from 379,000) while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decline to 350,000. Seasonal adjustment issues have been a recurring theme in claims data for the past few months, and the trend continued in today's report.

12:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The major averages continue drifting near their recent levels amid very limited participation. On that note, trading volume on the NYSE floor has yet to eclipse 200 million shares (152 at time of writing).

Interestingly, the past 30 minutes have seen market breadth shift towards a more neutral position. At this juncture, there is almost exactly one advancing issue per each decliner on the NYSE. Things look similar on the Nasdaq where advancers outpace decliners by a very slight ratio of 1.04:1.

12:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices have continued building on their opening gains with five of six cyclical sectors trading ahead of the broader market. The lone cyclical laggard-financials-lags with a modest increase of 0.1%.

Top sector components trade in mixed fashion as American Express (AXP 88.88, +0.19) and Wells Fargo (WFC 45.62, +0.23) hold respective gains of 0.2% and 0.5% while Bank of America (BAC 15.66, -0.04), Citigroup (C 52.27, -0.16), Goldman Sachs (GS 175.72, -0.44), and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 58.05, -0.20) display losses between 0.2% and 0.4%.

On a related note, Treasury yields have climbed to 3.00%, which marks the highest level since August 2011.

11:35 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Quiet late-morning action continues with the major averages hovering near their highs. The energy sector (+0.5%) has maintained its lead over the other groups as crude oil trades higher by 0.3%.

Meanwhile, the other commodity-related group, materials (+0.4%), trades just ahead of the broader market. Steelmakers and miners have contributed to the gains as the Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 49.10, +0.23) and Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 21.13, +0.10) both trade with gains close to 0.5% apiece.

11:00 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices continue to sport modest gains with the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all up between 0.2% and 0.4%.

From a sector standpoint, energy (+0.5%) has reclaimed the lead while two other cyclical groups-consumer discretionary (+0.4%) and industrials (+0.4%)-also appear among the leaders. Meanwhile, the financial sector is the only growth-sensitive group that has essentially stuck to the sidelines. The sector hovers just below its flat line.

Even though the second-largest S&P 500 sector lags, the top-weighted and third largest groups (technology and health care, respectively) have picked up some of the slack. Technology is higher by 0.2% while the health care sector outperforms with a gain of 0.4%.

10:35 am: [BRIEFING.COM]

The dollar index has been in positive territory all session so far, but has been slowly sliding lower in recent trade. Currently, the index is +0.05% at 80.49
Precious metals rallied earlier this morning, hitting new highs for the day
Silver futures rallied above the $20/oz level and remain near that HoD in current trade
Mar silver is now +2.3% at $19.94/oz, while Feb gold +0.7% at $1212/oz. Mar copper is +0.3% at $3.38/lb, currently near its HoD
In energy, natural gas was in positive territory overnight, but lost steam in morning trade as nat gas fell into the red. Prices are likely affected by more mild weather in the U.S. Jan natural gas is currently -0.1% at $4.41/MMBtu
Feb crude oil rallied earlier this morning and is currently +0.1% at $99.35/barrel.

10:00 am: [BRIEFING.COM] The major averages continue to hold their early highs with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.4%) trading ahead of its peers.

The price-weighted Dow outperforms as all but two components register gains. The pair of decliners, Goldman Sachs (GS 175.42, -0.74) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 58.17, -0.08), trade lower by 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively. With two major financials lagging, the broader financial sector (+0.1%) trails the S&P 500 (+0.2%).

9:45 am: [BRIEFING.COM] As expected, the major averages registered opening gains with all ten sectors contributing to the early advance.

A handful of cyclical sectors are paving the way for the broader market as consumer discretionary (+0.3%), energy (+0.3%), and industrials (+0.4%) sit atop the leaderboard. Over on the countercyclical side, gains among the four groups have been limited to no more than 0.3% (consumer staples), so far.

Treasuries remain modestly lower with the 10-yr yield up one basis point at 2.99%.

9:16 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +4.60. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +9.20. Equities are expected to begin today's session on a modestly higher note as the S&P 500 futures trade almost five points above fair value. This morning's economic data was limited to weekly initial claims, which fell to 338,000 from a revised prior week rate of 380,000 (from 379,000) while the Briefing.com consensus expected the reading to decrease to 350,000.

Outside of the claims data, pre-market action has been very subdued with European markets closed for Boxing Day.

There hasn't been much movement of note among individual stocks, but Twitter (TWTR 72.44, +2.48) is being driven by continued momentum, which has the stock trading higher by 3.5% in pre-market action. Including the advance, the stock holds a week-to-date gain of 20.4%.

Treasuries display modest losses with the 10-yr yield up one basis point at 2.99%.

8:59 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +4.90. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +8.70. The S&P 500 futures have padded their gain, and now trade almost five points above fair value.

Asian markets ended the quiet session on a mixed note. Economic data was limited to Japan's housing starts (14.1% year-over-year, 9.2% expected, 7.1% prior), construction orders (2.2% year-over-year, 61.1% previous) and South Korea's consumer confidence (107 actual, 106 expected, 107 prior).

Among news of note, on his one-year anniversary of taking office, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the controversial Yasukuni war shrine, which commemorates those who died in service of the Japanese Empire, including convicted war criminals. The visit marked the first time a sitting prime minister appeared at the shrine since Junichiro Koizumi did so in 2006, and drew prompt condemnation from China and South Korea.

Japan's Nikkei rallied 1.0% as the yen weakened to a five-year low against the greenback (104.75). Nissan Motor and Honda Motor added 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively, as exporters gained amid the weaker yen. Meanwhile, heavyweight Fast Retailing lagged, losing 0.7%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was closed.
China's Shanghai Composite lost 1.6% as trade snapped its three-day winning streak. The losses dropped action to a four-month low, and came as the People's Bank of China stopped injecting liquidity into the system. Financials were weak with Agricultural Bank of China giving up 1.2%.

Markets across Europe are closed for Boxing Day. The euro slipped from its highs during the past 30 minutes, and now trades near 1.3680 against the dollar.

8:32 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +3.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.70. The S&P 500 futures continue to hover less than four points above fair value.

The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 338,000, which was lower than the 350,000 that had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus. Today's tally was below the revised prior week count of 380,000 (from 379,000). As for continuing claims, they rose to 2.923 million from 2.877 million.

8:00 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +3.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.70. U.S. equity futures display modest gains with the S&P 500 futures trading almost four points above fair value.

Reviewing overnight developments:

Asian markets ended mixed. China's Shanghai Composite -1.6%, Japan's Nikkei +1.0%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was closed.
In economic data:
Japan's housing starts rose 14.1% year-over-year (9.2% expected, 7.1% prior) while construction orders increased 2.2% year-over-year (61.1% previous).
South Korea's consumer confidence was unchanged at 107 (106 expected).
Among news of note:
On his one-year anniversary of taking office, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the controversial Yasukuni war shrine, which commemorates those who died in service of the Japanese Empire, including convicted war criminals. The visit marked the first time a sitting prime minister appeared at the shrine since Junichiro Koizumi did so in 2006, and drew prompt condemnation from China and South Korea.
Major European markets are closed for Boxing Day.
There was no economic data released today.
There was no news of note.

In U.S. corporate news:

T-Mobile (TMUS 33.30, +1.11): +3.5% amid reports SoftBank is gearing up its efforts to acquire the wireless carrier.
Twitter (TWTR 71.32, +1.36): +1.9% is seeing continued strength, which has the stock up 18.8% this weeks.


Today's economic data will be limited to weekly initial claims, which will be released at 8:30 ET (350,000 Briefing.com consensus).

6:48 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +4.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +9.00.

6:48 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Nikkei...16174.44...+164.50...+1.00%. Hang Seng...Holiday.........

6:48 am: [BRIEFING.COM] FTSE...Holiday......... DAX...Holiday.........

Retailers Lead Dow, S&P 500 To Record Closing Highs

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, with the Dow and S&P 500 ending at record highs as retail shares rallied following strong data about the holiday shopping season.

In a positive sign for economic growth, initial jobless claims fell 42,000 in the latest week, dropping to 338,000 - the lowest level in nearly a month. Analysts had expected 345,000 new claims.

Retail stocks stayed in the spotlight as the holiday shopping season drew to a close. Data published by MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse said sales between November 1 and December 24 rose 2.3 percent, bucking concerns that the season had been weak.

The S&P retail index .SPXRT jumped 0.8 percent. The stock of Urban Outfitters (URBN.O) rose 2.2 percent to $37.55 and was one of the S&P 500's biggest percentage gainers. Online retailer Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) gained 1.3 percent to $404.39. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), a Dow component, added 0.5 percent to $78.39.

"I don't get why we seem to have an eternally upward market, but it looks like that's what we have," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh. "There's no reason to sell stocks, but also not much reason to buy except for that fact that we continue to be poised to go higher."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI jumped 122.33 points, or 0.75 percent, to end at 16,479.88, a record closing high. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX gained 8.70 points, or 0.47 percent, to finish at 1,842.02, also a record closing high. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC shot up 11.76 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 4,167.18.

The Dow rose to a record closing high for the sixth straight session, the longest winning streak for the blue-chip average since March. The S&P 500 scored its fourth record closing high in a row. The Dow climbed to an all-time intraday high of 16,483, while the S&P 500 hit a record intraday high of 1,842.84.

Volume, though, was light in the first full day of trading since Monday. Markets were closed on Wednesday for Christmas Day. U.S. stock trading ended early on Tuesday.

About 3.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, well below the 6.2 billion average so far this month, according to data from BATS Global Markets.

"The path of least resistance, as we tread water, seems to be trending higher," said Justin Wiggs, managing director at Stifel Nicolaus in Baltimore. "We're pacing very light on volume."

About 51 percent of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange closed higher on the day, while 49 percent of Nasdaq-listed shares ended in positive territory.

Energy shares also climbed. Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) shot up 1.7 percent to end at $100.90 and helped boost the Dow. Chevron Corp (CVX.N), another Dow component, rose 1.1 percent to close at $124.81.

The S&P 500 has soared 29.2 percent this year, largely due to stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The index is on track for its best year since 1997. The Dow has gained 25.8 percent in 2013 while the Nasdaq has jumped 38 percent.

In another black eye for the retail industry, the hackers who attacked Target Corp (TGT.N) and compromised up to 40 million credit cards and debit cards also managed to steal encrypted personal identification numbers, a senior payments executive told Reuters.

The discount store chain's stock rose 1.3 percent to end at $62.48, though it remained down 1.7 percent from its close on December 18.

In the telecom sector, sources close to the matter told Reuters that Japan's SoftBank Corp (9984.T) was in talks to buy T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS.N). Shares of T-Mobile US traded at their highest levels since 2007, gaining 2.3 percent to close at $32.93, just off an intraday high of $32.95.

In the bond market, U.S. benchmark Treasuries yields edged higher and were just below their two-year high of 3 percent. Analysts said that if yields stay at that level for an extended period, it might be a negative for stocks and other risky assets.

Special thanks to Bloomberg, CNNMoney, Reuters 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 Image@ http://stocktwits.com/wrbtrader

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