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 Post subject: February 26th Wednesday Trade Results - Profit $4,220.00
PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 12:57 am 
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Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:06 pm
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Location: Canada
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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)

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

Price Action Trade Performance for Today: Emini TF ($TF_F) futures @ $2,720.00 dollars or +27.20 points, Emini ES ($ES_F) futures @ $1,500.00 dollars or +30.00 points, Light Crude Oil CL ($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 @ $4,220.00 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=127&t=1730

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 or you do not document (journal) your own thoughts from trade to trade...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=232&t=2209

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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 End With Small Gains

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

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Stocks ended slightly higher Wednesday afternoon. But they mostly erased earlier gains sparked by a batch of solid earnings reports and strong housing data.

After coming in close sight of another record high, the S&P 500 rose less than a point for the day. The Dow and the Nasdaq rose just a handful of points each.

Meanwhile, shares of some retailers moved significantly.

Barnes & Noble (BKS, Fortune 500) shares jumped 4% after the troubled bookstore chain swung to a quarterly profit thanks to cost-cutting measures. The company also announced plans to introduce a new color Nook in early fiscal 2015.

But traders on StockTwits were not convinced that the Barnes & Noble shares will continue to rise.

"$BKS Revenues down significantly in all business units," said greglaw. "No position, but I can't see reasons for optimism...Bearish."

Shares for Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) rose 11% after the teen clothing retailer announced a decline in revenue and profit that still managed to beat expectations

Tesla (TSLA) shares continued to zoom higher, hitting an all-time high of $265 Wednesday. Shares have kicked into overdrive since the electric car maker reported much stronger-than-expected earnings and strong sales guidance last week.

Investors have remained optimistic amid anticipation that CEO Elon Musk will soon officially announce plans to open a massive new lithium battery factory, dubbed the "Gigafactory."

But some traders think the stock has run too far too fast.

"Wait, so let me get this right? $TSLA is up 33% in a week since Musk hinted at Giga-factory? And People still think it goes higher?" asked SkepticalBull. "#STUPID."

"$TSLA People still factoring news?" asked AKEB. "This stock price is beyond news, just plain ridiculous."

Target (TGT, Fortune 500) shares rose 7% even after the company blamed a data breach for a quarterly drop in revenue and profit.

"Did Elon Musk just joined the board of $TGT or something?" joked JFinDallas. "Keeps going and going...Bullish."

Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) shares gained ground after the brewer, which makes Budweiser and Stella Artois, reported better-than-expected fourth quarter results and outlined plans to boost sales during the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

On the downside, BlackBerry (BBRY) shares pulled back after a 16% jump during the past two days. BlackBerry has lost a lot of ground in the competitive smartphone market over the past few years, but shares have rallied in 2014 as investors focus on its turnaround potential. The stock is up 40% so far this year, making it the biggest gainer in CNNMoney's Tech 30 Index.

Credit Suisse (CS) shares slipped after a Senate report released Tuesday outlined how the Swiss bank helped clients hide billions from the IRS. The bank's executives will appear before the Senate Wednesday.

Shares of First Solar (FSLR) fell 9% after reporting earnings that missed expectations.

Sturm Ruger (RGR) shares tumbled even after the gun company delivered strong gains in sales and profit due to the launch of new products. Shares of rival gun maker Smith & Wesson (SWHC) were also lower.

After the closing bell, J.C. Penney (JCP, Fortune 500) shares rose as the retailer reported a narrower-than-expected loss for the fourth quarter. The company also said it expects same-store sales will rise between 3% and 5% during the current quarter.

Shares of Chinese search engine Baidu (BIDU) soared in extended trading after the company posted solid earnings and sales.

In economic news, data on January sales of new homes came in stronger than expected, easing concerns of a slowdown in the housing market. Sales jumped almost 10% in January to the highest level since July 2008.

European markets finished the day with small losses. The FTSE 100 in London was declining by roughly 0.5%.

Asian markets ended with mixed results -- the main indexes in Australia and Japan moved slightly lower while other markets posted gains.

The yuan has been dropping in recent days, shaking confidence in the typically robust Chinese currency.

The price of Bitcoin continued to slide following the shutdown Monday of Mt. Gox, which used to be the dominant exchange for the digital currency.

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4:15 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices finished the Wednesday session on a flat note after surrendering their modest intraday gains. More importantly, the S&P 500 was unable to register a fresh record closing high for the third day in a row.

Stocks slipped from their opening levels, but the early weakness was erased in a flash when it was reported that new home sales in January surpassed estimates (468,000 versus Briefing.com consensus 400,000). The upbeat report sent stocks to new highs, but the S&P 500 ran into resistance just below the 1853 area, which the index was unable to penetrate throughout the afternoon.

Eight of ten sectors ended in the red with energy (-0.6%) seeing the largest loss. However, the daylong underperformance of financials (-0.1%) was more notable as it marked the second day of relative weakness for the bellwether sector. Today's decline narrowed the sector's February gain to 1.8% versus a 3.5% increase for the S&P 500. That showing warrants close attention over the coming days given the vital role the financials play in feeding economic growth and influencing market sentiment.

Elsewhere, the tech sector (+0.1%) was a reluctant participant in the early advance. The reluctance was visible among several top sector components like Apple (AAPL 517.35, -4.71), Microsoft (MSFT 37.47, -0.07), and Visa (V 226.11, -1.00), which lagged throughout the session. Chipmakers, however, held up well with the PHLX Semiconductor Index adding 0.7%. Also of note, the discretionary space added 0.6% thanks to gains among homebuilders and retailers. Homebuilders rallied in reaction to the new home sales report, sending the iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 26.27, +0.72) higher by 2.8%. Meanwhile, retailers outperformed after Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF 40.04, +4.05) reported a bottom-line beat on below-consensus revenue.

Although the discretionary sector displayed relative strength, producers of basic materials (+0.7%) fared even better. This took place without the participation of miners as the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 26.05, -0.28) lost 1.1% while gold futures also fell 1.1% to $1328.00/ozt.

Treasuries finished at their best levels of the session with the benchmark 10-yr yield down four basis points at 2.67%.

Participation was on the light side as only 656 million shares changed hands at the NYSE.

The weekly MBA Mortgage Index fell 8.5% to follow last week's decline of 4.1%. Notably, the purchase index dropped to levels last seen in 1995.

New home sales jumped 9.6% to 468,000 in January from an upwardly revised 427,000 (from 414,000) in December. The Briefing.com consensus expected new home sales to fall to 400,000. Weather-related problems were blamed for a wide variety of poor economic data throughout January. That included a sizable drop in existing home sales and a contraction in the NAHB homebuilders survey. Yet, weather was evidently not a problem in the new home sector as sales reached their highest level since July 2008.

Tomorrow, weekly initial claims and the Durable Goods report for January will be released at 8:30 ET. Also of note, Fed Chair Janet Yellen will appear before the Senate Banking Committee for the second part of her semiannual testimony on monetary policy.

Nasdaq Composite +2.8% YTD
Russell 2000 +1.7% YTD
S&P 500 -0.2% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -2.3% YTD

3:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM]

Precious metals traded in negative territory today as the dollar index rose higher. Economic reports this morning showed that new home sales jumped 9.6% to 468,000 in January from an upwardly revised 427,000 (from 414,000) in December. The Briefing.com consensus expected new home sales to fall to 400,000.
Apr gold fell to a session low of $1322.30 per ounce in morning floor action and eventually settled with a 1.1% loss at $1328.00 per ounce.
Mar silver tumbled to a session low of $21.08 per ounce after pulling back from its session high of $21.67 per ounce set in early morning action. Unable to gain much momentum, it settled with a 3.2% loss at $21.25 per ounce.
Apr crude oil traded higher as it gained support on better-than-anticipated inventory data. The EIA reported that for the week ending Feb 21, crude oil inventories had a build of 0.068 mln barrels when a larger build of 1.2-1.3 mln barrels was anticipated. The energy component rose as high as $102.90 per barrel and settled at $102.62 per barrel, or 0.7% higher.
Apr natural gas spent its entire floor session in the red. It chopped around in the $4.51-4.62 per MMBtu range and eventually settled with a 2.8% loss at $4.54 per MMBtu.

3:05 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 remains just below its flat line with one hour left in the trading day. The benchmark index is now facing an uphill climb if it going to finish the session above the 2013 closing high of 1848.36.

If the index ends the session below that level, this would mark the third consecutive failure at capturing new record highs. So far this week, the financial sector (-0.2%) has served as an early indicator of upcoming weakness in the broad market, and the group deserves close attention during the last hour of today's action.

With the key indices near lows, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 14.35, +0.68) has returned to its morning high.

2:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Recent action saw the major averages return below their flat lines while Treasuries jumped to new session highs (10-yr yield -3 bps at 2.67%).

The retreat pressured all ten sectors from their recent levels, but most notably, the largest S&P 500 sector-technology (-0.1%)-slid from its session high to a new low for the day. Earlier, we highlighted the underperformance of some top tech names, which contributed to the sector's recent downdraft.

Elsewhere, the financial sector (-0.2%) continues to trail while the discretionary space, which led earlier, has trimmed its advance to 0.3%.

2:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Afternoon action continues with the major averages trading near their recent levels. In fact, the S&P 500 (+0.2%) has held inside of a four-point range since 10:30 ET. The Nasdaq Composite (+0.4%) continues to outperform, but it too has respected a tight range since the late morning.

Earlier, we mentioned that several large cap tech names have not taken part in the rally and that remains the case at this time. However, chipmakers have picked up some of the slack as the PHLX Semiconductor Index trades higher by 1.0%.

Even though the major averages sport modest gains, participants have shown demand for downside protection. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 14.06, +0.39) has stayed out of the red all day and is currently showing an increase of 2.9%.

1:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The major indices continue to cling to modest gains in yet another effort to establish a new record closing high. An early run following the better-than-expected new home sales report for January petered out shortly after the release, leaving the S&P 500 confined to a tight trading range between 1849 and 1852 for much of the session. Notably, a finish anywhere in that range (or higher) would qualify as a new record closing high.

A few factors limiting the breakout effort thus far include the lackluster performance of the influential financial sector (+0.1%) and the awareness that Fed Chair Janet Yellen is set to deliver some potentially market-moving testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.

Strikingly, the Treasury market has not flinched at all today despite the better-than-expected new home sales data and the advance in the stock market. The 10-yr note is up five ticks with its yield at 2.69%.

Participants in the Treasury market may be keeping a closer eye on some weakness re-emerging in emerging market currencies and reports that Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian military drills near Ukraine to test the combat readiness of his troops. Separately, a move to session highs just occurred in the wake of a strong 5-yr note auction that produced a 2.98 bid-to-cover ratio versus the prior 12-auction average of 2.62.

12:55 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] At midday, the major averages hover near their best levels of the day. Small caps lead with the Russell 2000 trading higher by 1.2% while the S&P 500 holds a more modest gain of 0.4%.

Equities began the trading day on a slightly higher note but the early gains faded during the initial 30 minutes of action. Stocks then jumped back into the green in reaction to a better-than-expected new home sales report (468,000 versus Briefing.com consensus 400,000).

The strong housing data gave a boost to homebuilders, which have provided a measure of support to the discretionary sector (+1.1%). Ryland Group (RYL 46.01, +2.20) is higher by 5.0% while the broader iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 26.40, +0.84) trades up 3.3%.

Furthermore, apparel retailers have also factored into the sector's strength after Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF 39.86, +3.87) reported a bottom-line beat on below-consensus revenue.

Outside of the discretionary space, other large sectors are mixed with respect to the broader market. Health care (+0.5%) and technology (+0.4%) outperform, but a deeper look into the tech sector reveals relative weakness among large cap names like Apple (AAPL 519.26, -2.80), Cisco Systems (CSCO 21.73, -0.11), and Microsoft (MSFT 37.50, -0.04).

Also of note, the financial sector (unch) has not played along with the broader market. In fact, the bellwether group has been a recent laggard and is up just 0.2% this week versus a 0.8% gain for the S&P 500. For the month, only the telecom sector has had a worse showing than financials. The telecom space is lower by 2.6% this month while financials display a February gain of 2.0%. For reference, the S&P 500 is up 3.9% in February.

Treasuries are little changed with the 10-yr yield at 2.70%.

Economic data was limited to two reports:

The weekly MBA Mortgage Index fell 8.5% to follow last week's decline of 4.1%. Notably, the purchase index dropped to levels last seen in 1995.
New home sales jumped 9.6% to 468,000 in January from an upwardly revised 427,000 (from 414,000) in December. The Briefing.com consensus expected new home sales to fall to 400,000. Weather-related problems were blamed for a wide variety of poor economic data throughout January. That included a sizable drop in existing home sales and a contraction in the NAHB homebuilders survey. Yet, weather was evidently not a problem in the new home sector as sales reached their highest level since July 2008.

12:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Stocks remain near their recent levels with the S&P 500 trading higher by 0.3%.

The consumer discretionary sector (+1.2%) continues to trade ahead of the remaining groups and the largest S&P 500 sector-technology (+0.5%)-also appears among the outperformers. Interestingly, the sector is showing relative strength even as large cap names like Apple (AAPL 519.30, -2.76), Cisco Systems (CSCO 21.73, -0.11), Microsoft (MSFT 37.50, -0.03), SAP (SAP 79.61, -0.20), and Visa (V 226.86, -0.25) weigh.

Chipmakers, however, are seeing broad strength. Intel (INTC 24.90, +0.29) is higher by 1.2% while the PHLX Semiconductor Index displays a similar gain of 1.1%.

12:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.3%) has slipped from its session high, but continues to hold a modest gain. Since there haven't been any major movements in equities since our last update, we would like to turn the focus to the foreign exchange market where the Dollar Index (80.48, +0.34) sits at its best level of the session.

The U.S. dollar has been strengthening against the euro since the early morning hours and the better-than-expected new home sales report gave a boost to the greenback. At this juncture, the pair hovers near 1.3670.

Also of note, emerging market currencies are seeing significant pressure. The Turkish lira is seeing its third day of losses as the dollar/lira pair trades near 2.2385 after starting the week in the 2.1700 area. The U.S. dollar also trades at its best level of the session versus other emerging market currencies like the Polish zloty, Russian ruble, Mexican peso, and the Ukrainian hryvnia.

11:30 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Equities remain near their recent levels with the S&P 500 trading higher by 0.4%. Given its current level, the benchmark index is on track to finish the session at a fresh record high, but there is still more than four hours left in the trading day.

Since the start of the week, the S&P 500 has been trying to register a fresh record close, but the task has proven elusive so far. On Monday, the market retreated from session highs during the final hour while Tuesday's rally was held in check by the underperformance of the top three sectors (technology, financials, and health care). Today, health care (+0.4%) and technology (+0.6%) trade ahead of the broader market while financials (unch) continue to lag.

On the upside, the discretionary sector (+1.0%) remains in the lead with materials (+0.9%) following not far behind.

11:00 am: [BRIEFING.COM] The major averages hover at their best levels of the session after seeing some volatility during the first 90 minutes of action. The S&P 500 trades higher by 0.2% while the Nasdaq (+0.5%) and Russell 2000 (+0.6%) outperform.

With regard to individual sectors, the discretionary space (+0.9%) trades ahead of the remaining groups for the second day in a row. Apparel retailers trade broadly higher following better-than-expected results from Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF 39.21, +3.22). Homebuilders have also provided support to the sector as the iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 26.20, +0.65) trades higher by 2.5% in reaction to a better-than-expected new home sales for January.

Strikingly, the financial sector has not shown much interest in participating in today's advance so far. The group is lower by 0.2% today and flat for the week versus a 0.7% gain for the S&P 500.

10:35 am: [BRIEFING.COM]

Gold and silver futures sold off this morning and are currently just above session lows.
Apr gold is now -0.8% at $1332.40/oz, Mar silver is now -2.3% at $21.46/oz
Natural gas has been in the red all day so far as recent buying has reversed course (Mar nat gas rose well above $6/MMBtu. Apr is the new front-month contract)
Apr nat gas is now -3.2% at $4.54/MMBtu
Crude oil slowly climbed higher today above $102/barrel.
Following the weekly inventory data, which just came out, crude oil prices rose and are now up 0.7% at $102.52/barrel (Apr contract).

10:00 am: [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 has returned to its flat line while the Nasdaq (+0.2%) continues to outperform.

January new home sales hit an annualized rate of 468,000, which was up from the revised December rate of 427,000 (from 414,000), and better than the rate of 400,000 that had been broadly expected by the Briefing.com consensus.

9:45 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices began the session modestly higher with the Nasdaq Composite (+0.3%) in the lead. With the tech-oriented index showing early strength, the technology sector (+0.3%) is among the early outperformers.

Also of note, financials (-0.1%) and health care (+0.1%) lagged during yesterday's session and the two groups trail the broader market once again today.

Elsewhere, the discretionary sector (+0.5%) is seeing its second day of relative strength thanks to retailers. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 84.39, +0.76) trades up 0.9%.

Treasuries have climbed to highs, pushing the 10-yr yield down one basis point to 2.69%.

The New Home Sales report for January will be released at 10:00 ET.

9:11 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +3.90. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +13.00. The stock market is on track to begin today's session on an upbeat note as index futures display modest gains. The S&P 500 futures trade four points above fair value after being up as much as ten points at the start of the European session. After notching their highs around 3:00 ET, futures began retreating to their current levels.

There was no clear catalyst responsible for last evening's surge, but this morning's retreat has been accompanied by weakness across major European indices.

Turning the focus back to the U.S., pre-market economic data was limited to the weekly MBA Mortgage Index, which fell 8.5% to follow last week's decline of 4.1%. One more data point remains on the schedule with the New Home Sales report for January set to be released at 10:00 ET. The Briefing.com consensus expects a reading of 400,000 to follow December's 414,000.

Treasuries sit just below their flat lines to start the day. The 10-yr yield is higher by one basis point at 2.71%.

8:58 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +5.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +15.70. The S&P 500 futures hover five points above fair value.

Markets across Asia ended mostly higher. Economic data was limited to a Hong Kong's GDP (+3.0% year-over-year versus 3.1% expected), Australia's construction work done (-1.0% quarter-over-quarter versus 0.4% expected), and Singapore's industrial production (+3.9% year-over-year versus 6.8% expected).

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.5% from four-week highs. Panasonic was a notable outperformer, up 5.3%, following yesterday's report it was in talks to team up with Tesla Motors to build a battery plant.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.5%, gaining for the first time in four days. Real estate shares recovered some of their previous day's losses as China Overseas Land & Investment climbed 3.5% and China Resources Land rose 2.0%.
China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.4%, advancing for the first time in five sessions. Commodity-related names were strong as Sinopec climbed 3.7% and Shangdong Gold surged the limit, 10%.

Core European indices trade lower across the board. Participants received several economic data points at the start of the trading day. Germany's GfK Consumer Climate ticked up to 8.5 from 8.3 (8.2 expected). Great Britain's Q4 GDP was left unchanged at 0.7% quarter-over-quarter, but the year-over-year reading was revised down to 2.7% from 2.8% (2.8% expected). Separately, Business Investment rose 2.4% quarter-over-quarter (2.6% consensus, 2.0% prior). Elsewhere, Italy's wage inflation came in at 0.6% month-over-month (0.0% prior) and Norway's unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6% from 3.5% (3.5% consensus).

In news, Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Ian McCafferty said the current pound strength is not a major problem for exporters, but he would be concerned if the currency continues climbing. Since the start of the year, the pound has appreciated by 0.7% against the dollar.

Germany's DAX is lower by 0.4%. Lanxess leads the decline with a loss of 3.4% after reporting disappointing results. Utilities also lag with E.ON and RWE both down near 2.0%.
Great Britain's FTSE holds a loss of 0.4%. Food retailer Tesco underperforms with a loss of 4.2% in reaction to analyst comments. On the upside, industrial equipment manufacturer Weir Group is higher by 6.9% after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results.
In France, the CAC trades down 0.5%. Consumer names lag with L'Oreal and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton down 1.2% and 1.6%, respectively.
Also of note, Italy's MIB (-0.3%) and Spain's IBEX (-0.3%) have slipped to lows after displaying slim gains earlier.

8:25 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +5.60. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +15.00. U.S. equity futures continue to hold gains despite retreating steadily since the early morning hours. Futures jumped right after yesterday's closing bell and continued their climb during the Asian session. Once European markets opened for action, futures notched their highs and began trending lower, which remains the case at this time. Despite the retreat, futures on the S&P 500 remain nearly six points above fair value.

Participants received a healthy dose of earnings since yesterday's closing bell, but the reports have only had a stock-specific impact. Notably, First Solar (FSLR 50.64, -7.39) is lower by 12.7% after reporting disappointing results and guiding lower.

Treasuries are little changed with the 10-yr yield sitting at 2.71%.

8:00 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +6.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +15.70. U.S. equity futures display modest pre-market gains despite cautious overseas action. The S&P 500 futures trade six points above fair value.

Reviewing overnight developments:

Asian markets ended mixed. China's Shanghai Composite +0.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.5%, and Japan's Nikkei -0.5%.
In economic data:
Hong Kong's GDP rose 1.1% quarter-over-quarter (0.9% consensus, 0.5% prior) while the year-over-year reading increased 3.0% (3.1% expected, 2.9% prior).
Australia's Construction Work Done fell 1.0% quarter-over-quarter (0.7% consensus, 3.0% last).
South Korea's Consumer Confidence ticked down to 108 from 109, as expected.
Singapore's industrial production rose 3.9% year-over-year (6.8% expected, 6.4% previous).
Among news of note:
Bank of Japan board member Koji Ishida said the country's recovery remains on track even though Q2 GDP could come in below expectations due to the sales tax hike that is expected to be introduced during the quarter.

Core European indices hover in the red while peripheral markets outperform. Germany's DAX -0.3%, Great Britain's FTSE -0.3%, and France's CAC -0.4%. Elsewhere, Italy's MIB +0.1% and Spain's IBEX +0.1%.
Participants received several economic data points:
Germany's GfK Consumer Climate ticked up to 8.5 from 8.3 (8.2 expected).
Great Britain's Q4 GDP was left unchanged at 0.7% quarter-over-quarter, but the year-over-year reading was revised down to 2.7% from 2.8% (2.8% expected). Separately, Business Investment rose 2.4% quarter-over-quarter (2.6% consensus, 2.0% prior).
Italy's wage inflation came in at 0.6% month-over-month (0.0% prior).
Norway's unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6% from 3.5% (3.5% consensus).
In news:
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Ian McCafferty said the current pound strength is not a major problem for exporters, but he would be concerned if the currency continues climbing. Since the start of the year, the pound has appreciated by 0.7% against the dollar.

In U.S. corporate news:

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF 38.50, +2.51): +7.0% after reporting an earnings beat on below-consensus revenue.
DreamWorks Animation (DWA 31.57, -3.63): -10.3% following its bottom-line miss on below-consensus revenue.
Dollar Tree (DLTR 50.86, -1.82): -3.5% after reporting disappointing results and guiding lower.
First Solar (FSLR 50.38, -7.65): -13.2% after missing on earnings and revenue. In addition, the company guided its first-quarter results below consensus.
Questcor Pharmaceuticals (QCOR 75.50, -3.15): -4.0% despite beating earnings estimates by one cent.
Sodastream (SODA 39.00, -0.08): -0.2% after beating bottom-line estimates by two cents.
Target (TGT 56.75, +0.24): +0.4% after reporting results in-line with the January 10 warning. The retailer guided first-quarter and full-year earnings below analyst estimates.

The weekly MBA Mortgage Index fell 8.5% to follow last week's decline of 4.1%.

The New Home Sales report for January will be released at 10:00 ET.

6:48 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +7.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +17.30.

6:48 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Nikkei...14970.97...-80.60...-0.50%. Hang Seng...22437.44...+120.20...+0.50%.

6:48 am: [BRIEFING.COM] FTSE...6809.17...-21.30...-0.30%. DAX...9680.14...-19.20...-0.20%.

S&P 500 Little Changed After Gauge Fails to Hold Record

By Callie Bost and Lu Wang Feb 26, 2014 4:32 PM ET

* Video - What’s Causing the Swings in the S&P 500?

U.S. stocks were little changed, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index erased earlier gains and failed to hold above its record closing level for a third straight day.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. slid 4.9 percent after profit fell short of estimates. First Solar Inc. tumbled 9.1 percent after posting a 58 percent drop in quarterly profit. Lowe’s Cos. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. jumped more than 5.4 percent after announcing buyback plans. Target Corp. gained 7 percent as profit topped analysts’ estimates. An S&P index of homebuilders climbed 3 percent as Lennar Corp. and PulteGroup Inc. increased at least 2.8 percent.

The S&P 500 (SPX) rose less than one point to 1,845.16 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 18.75 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,198.41. About 6.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 7 percent above the 30-day average.

“The market in the short term is a little tired,” Michael James, a Los Angeles-based managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc., said in a phone interview. “Sure, we have problem breaking through it, setting new all-time highs. But I think that’s temporary. I don’t think there is going to be any material downside from these levels because there isn’t really anything that’s fundamentally driven, it’s more sentiment driven.”

The S&P 500 rose as much as 0.4 percent earlier today as sales of new homes unexpectedly climbed and retailers rallied. The gauge topped its previous closing high of 1,848.38 reached on Jan. 15, something it has done each day this week, only to retreat from that level by the end of the session. The index came within six points of the record each day last week. It reached an intraday high of 1,858.71 on Feb. 24.

Afternoon Retreat

Today marks the fourth straight day the S&P 500 pared or erased gains in the afternoon. The index has lost 0.06 percent in the last hour of trading this year through yesterday, the worst hourly performance of the day, according to data from Bespoke Investment Group LLC.

The gauge has rallied 5.9 percent since a low on Feb. 3 as investors speculated that severe winter weather explains the weakness in reports such as housing and hiring. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said this month that the economy can withstand stimulus cuts, adding that only a notable change to the outlook would prompt the central bank to slow the pace of tapering. Yellen will testify tomorrow on monetary policy before the Senate.

Three rounds of stimulus have helped push the S&P 500 up as much as 173 percent from a 12-year low in 2009. The index tumbled as much as 5.8 percent from its Jan. 15 record on concern that growth was slowing in China and amid a rout in emerging-market currencies.

‘Nothing’s Changed’

“We went through a snapback rally and got right back to the all-time highs,” James W. Gaul, a portfolio manager at Boston Advisors LLC, which oversees about $2.5 billion from Boston, said by phone. “Nothing has changed from a month ago, so what’s the fuel to keep pushing stocks higher. Earnings are almost over and we need news to move higher.”

Money is beginning to return to ETFs with the S&P 500 trading near record levels. About $21 billion has been added to ETFs that buy and sell American shares in the past two weeks as stock prices recovered, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The deposits compare with about $407 million sent to fixed income since Feb. 11.

Earnings beat analysts’ estimates at about 70 percent of the 471 companies in the S&P 500 that have posted results so far this season, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Analysts estimate earnings for S&P 500 companies grew by 8.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to a survey of analysts.

Data today showed sales of new U.S. homes increased 9.6 percent to a 468,000 annualized pace in January, exceeding the highest estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the most since July 2008.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index advanced 5 percent today to 14.35, its first increase in five days. The gauge of S&P 500 options known as the VIX is up 4.6 percent for the year.

Six of 10 main S&P 500 groups retreated, with energy and utilities stocks falling at least 0.5 percent for the biggest drops. Exxon Mobil Corp. retreated 0.5 percent for the second-largest drop in the Dow.

Solar, Gas

First Solar sank 9.1 percent to $52.74. The largest U.S. solar-panel manufacturer said profit in the fourth quarter slid as revenue slumped from the utility-scale power plants it is building in the southwest of the U.S. Net income fell to $65.3 million from $154.2 million, First Solar said in a statement.

Chesapeake Energy plunged 4.9 percent to $25.61. The second-largest U.S. natural-gas producer missed analysts’ profit estimates by the biggest margin in almost two years as energy prices fell and costs to exit leases and cut jobs rose.

Natural gas futures fell in New York, bringing the three-day slide to 20 percent, as forecast showed a less-intense cold front across the U.S. East.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. plunged 12 percent to $30.91. The independent animation studio reported that fourth-quarter revenue slumped 23 percent after home-video sales of “Turbo” missed estimates.

Retailers had the biggest gain among 24 major industries in the S&P 500, rallying 1.4 percent.

Lowe’s advanced 5.4 percent to $50.72. The second-largest U.S. home-improvement chain announced a plan to buy back $5 billion in shares. The company also said fourth-quarter profit rose 6.3 percent as the housing rebound spurred renovation spending.

Retailers

Home Depot Inc. added 0.9 percent to $81.70. The company climbed 4 percent yesterday after it posted fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates, marking six straight years of meeting or exceeding projections.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had the biggest increase in the Dow, advancing 2 percent to $74.78.

Abercrombie & Fitch increased 11 percent to $40.04 after posting fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates and saying it would buy back $150 million in shares in the current quarter.

Target Corp. (TGT) added 7 percent to $60.49. The retailer posted fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates, signaling that it’s regaining customer loyalty after a data breach affected tens of millions of shoppers at the peak of the holiday season.

Aeropostale Inc., the teen apparel retailer under pressure from an activist investor to sell itself, increased 7.1 percent to $7.43. The company is working with Barclays Plc to explore options such as the sale of a convertible note or preferred stock to a private-equity firm, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Homebuilders climbed, with all 11 members of the S&P Supercomposite Homebuilding Index advancing. Lennar added 3.6 percent to $43.78 and PulteGroup rose 2.8 percent to $21.25.

Cablevision Systems Corp. jumped 3.9 percent to $17.26 as fourth-quarter revenue topped analysts’ estimates and its operating cash flow for the period grew 49 percent.

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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