TheStrategyLab.com Price Action Trading Support Forum

Forum for price action traders that want to learn WRB Analysis basic tutorial chapters 1, 2 and 3 prior to purchasing our advance trade methods. Hashtags: #wrbanalysis #wrbzone #wrbhiddengap #priceaction #trading
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 9:50 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: December 17th Thursday 2009 Emini ES ($ES_F) points +17.75
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 4:50 pm 
Offline
Site Admin

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

Written By M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body analysis)

Today's trades that were posted in real-time in #FuturesTrades chat room via my IRC user name wrbtrader. You can review each trade from entry to exit along with commentary and an occasional trading tip involving WRB Analysis (wide range body analysis) because its all archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=406

Quote:
It's been a tough trading week for me and I will take it easy tomorrow via planning to take only a few trades to re-energize as stated at the above chat log. Also, I'm expecting tomorrow to be a low volatility range day just as long as there's no breaking news event or global event to bring in volatility to produce a strong directional price movement or trend day.


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

Image@ http://twitter.com/wrbtrader

In addition, posted below are direct links about my trade methodology or trading approach that enables me to identify key trading areas in the price action that represent changes in supply/demand and volatility along with being able to exploit these changes via WRB Analysis (wide range body analysis).


http://www.thestrategylab.com/WRBAnalysisTutorials.htm

http://www.thestrategylab.com/TradeStrategies.htm

Also, I strongly believe that profitable trading involves more than just trade signals and that's why most traders fail because they put all their efforts in trade signals while ignoring the impact on their trading results via market experience, discipline, money management, team collaboration, proper trading enviornment (home or office), market psychology, trader psychology (trading habits/routine and personal lifestyle). If you don't understand this perspective...please ask questions here at the forum for more info or you can tweet me on twitter @wrbtrader.

My Trading Performance: +17.75 Emini ES ($ES_F) points

Attachment:
121709wrbtraderPnLBlotterProfit.png
121709wrbtraderPnLBlotterProfit.png [ 32.5 KiB | Viewed 1435 times ]

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

Stocks Slump On Global Jitters
By Julianne Pepitone, staff reporter
December 17, 2009: 4:45 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks closed sharply lower Thursday after Greece received another credit downgrade and the dollar rose on the U.S. central bank's cautious comments.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) fell 133 points, or 1.3%. Declines were broad based, with 28 of the 30 Dow components ending lower.The S&P 500 index (SPX) lost 13 points, or 1.2%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) slipped 27 points, or 1.2%.

The stock slump came as the dollar rebounded 1.3% against the euro, to its highest levels since September. The greenback was also up sharply on the pound and slightly higher against the yen.

The dollar jumped Thursday for two reasons, according to Craig Peckham, strategist at Jefferies & Co. First, he said, were the "continuing jitters" after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday left interest rates unchanged near 0%, saying weakness would remain for some time. Adding to those fears were reports that Greece has been downgraded by Standard and Poor's.
The shortest Wall Street survival guide you'll ever need

S&P's move came after health care companies complained that the country was behind on payments related to its public health system, and it follows Fitch Rating's downgrade of Greece on Dec. 8.

Marc Chandler, chief foreign exchange strategist for Brown Brothers Harriman, said those downgrades and persistent worries about the economy are driving up the dollar -- and these concerns could carry extra weight amid "very thin" volume ahead of the holidays.

"Santa Claus is giving a little present to people like me, who are dollar bulls," Chandler said.

Despite posting gains early in the session, stocks ended mixed Wednesday after the Fed's interest rate announcement.

Financials take a hit: The slump slammed several bank shares, with Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) closing down 7.5%, American Express (AXP, Fortune 500) off 2% and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) down 2.6%.

According to reports, the Treasury canceled plans to start selling off part of its 34% stake in Citi after its offering of 5.4 billion shares of common stock drew weak demand.

The offering was part of a plan Citi announced late Wednesday, in which the New York-based lender said it intends to raise $20.5 billion in the stock market in a plan to pay back its bailout funds.

"The market is struggling to absorb these staggering amounts of new issue," said Jefferies' Peckham. "Marry that with the overriding theme of caution, and investors will be nervous."

Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) said late Wednesday it appointed senior executive Brian Moynihan as its new chief executive officer. Moynihan is currently the president of consumer and small business banking. Exiting CEO Ken Lewis surprised the board of directors when he announced plans to retire in September. Shares were down 1.1%.

Economy: The Labor Department reported jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week, jumping by 7,000 to 480,000. Analysts predicted a decline to 465,000 new claims.

The November index of leading economic indicators, from the Conference Board, rose 0.9% -- beating expectations of a 0.7% jump.

The Philadelphia Fed index, a regional read on manufacturing, far surpassed expectations. The reading jumped to 20.4 in December, the highest since April 2005, from 16.7 in November. Analysts expected a decline to 16.0.

In Washington, a Senate Banking committee voted 16-to-7 to confirm Ben Bernanke for another four-year term running the Federal Reserve.

Companies: Before the start of trading Thursday, package-delivery firm FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500) reported earnings of $1.10 per diluted share, down from $1.58 one year ago.

FedEx issued cautious guidance for the third quarter of 50 to 70 cents per diluted share. That fell short of forecasts of 84 cents per share, and the stock price lost 6.1%.

After the market close Thursday, Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) reported a profit of 39 cents a share versus 34 cents a year ago. The software company's results beat analyst expectations of 36 cents per share.

Also after the bell, Nike (NKE, Fortune 500) reported a second-quarter profit of 76 cents a share, down from 80 cents a share. Analysts were looking for 71 cents a share.

Smartphone maker Palm (PALM) reported a wider-than-expected loss of 37 cents per share in its second fiscal quarter.

Palm's rival, Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIMM), earned $1.10 per share, up from 69 cents a year ago. RIM shares were up about 11% in after-hours trading.

World markets and commodities: Stocks in Asia ended mixed, with Tokyo's Nikkei index falling 0.13% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index off 1.22%. European indexes settled lower.

Crude oil for January delivery fell 1 cent to settle at $72.65 a barrel, while gold for February delivery plunged $28.80 to end at $1,107.40 an ounce.

Bonds were higher, with the benchmark 10-year yield slipping to 3.49% from 3.59% late Wednesday.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners almost three to one on volume of 1.7 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers almost three to one on volume of 1.9 billion shares.

Image

Yahoo! Finance

4:30 pm : Stiff selling on heavy volume came as the greenback spiked against foreign currencies and financials faltered. Stocks now head into Friday with a week-to-date loss of nearly 1%.

The dollar made its way to a 1.1% gain against competing currencies after Standard & Poor's downgraded Greece's debt rating. It was the second reduction of its kind this week. Support for the greenback had the Dollar Index up as much as 1.4%, which put it at a new three-month high.

That proved to be a headwind for both stocks and commodities, which put materials stocks under the most pressure this session. The materials sector settled with a loss of 2.3%.

However, it was weakness in the financial sector that hampered the broader market. Financials, which make up 14% of the stock market's weight, fell 1.8%.

Pressure against financials followed several headlines, which began with news that Citigroup (C 3.20, -0.25) priced shares in its previously announced common stock offering at $3.15 each, a near 9% discount to the previous session's closing price. The low price tag even kept the Treasury from unloading its $5 billion of shares in the company.

Shares of investment banks and brokerages were sent to a 2.8% loss after highly regarded analyst Meredith Whitney lowered her earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley (MS 29.12, -1.22) and Goldman Sachs (GS 160.93, -4.06).

Meanwhile, consumer finance stocks dropped 3.3% in the wake of the latest quarterly report from Discover Financial (DFS 14.92, -1.50). The company posted earnings of $0.63 per share, including certain items, but saw an increase in its managed net charge off rate to 8.43%. It failed to win support, though, when it stated during its conference call that it feels much more confident that its TARP repayment will be sooner than later and implied that a capital raise would not be necessary.

FedEx (FDX 84.47, -5.48) also failed to inspire with its latest quarterly results. The global shipment company brought in earnings of $1.10 per share, which matched its preannouncement, but topped the consensus of $1.06 per share. However, FedEx expects third quarter earnings to range from $0.50 to $0.70 per share, which is shy of the current consensus of $0.84 per share. It also stated it expects earnings for fiscal 2010 to range from $3.45 to $3.75 per share, which brackets the current consensus of $3.46 per share.

Initial jobless claims for the week ending December 12 totaled 480,000, which is up 7,000 from the previous week and more than the 465,000 initial claims that had been widely expected. Continuing claims climbed 5,000 from the previous week to roughly 5.19 million, which is more than the 5.17 million that had been forecast by economists.

Selling pressure took a temporary reprieve with the midmorning release of the November Philadelphia Fed Index, which hit 20.4. The consensus had called for a reading of 16.0.

Leading indicators for November increased 0.9%, which is stronger than the 0.7% increase that had been expected.

By eclipsing 1.7 billion shares, trading volume on the NYSE hit its highest level in nearly three months this session. The heavy volume suggests that there was conviction behind this session's selling effort, though it comes one day ahead of tomorrow's quadruple witching options expiration. Nonetheless, selling culminated with stocks near their session lows and declining issues outnumbering advancers by more than 4-to-1.

Advancing Sectors: (None)
Declining Sectors: Materials (-2.3%), Financials (-1.8%), Consumer Staples (-1.3%), Consumer Discretionary (-1.3%), Tech (-1.2%), Industrials (-1.0%), Health Care (-0.9%), Telecom (-0.8%), Energy (-0.7%), Utilities (-0.6%)DJ30 -132.86 NASDAQ -26.86 NQ100 -1.3% R2K -1.1% SP400 -1.1% SP500 -13.10 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 717/1.93 bln/1966 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 845/1.72 bln/2203

3:30 pm : The dollar's advance to a three-month high against competing currencies weighed on precious metals for the entire session. In turn, gold prices dropped 2.5% to $1107.40 per ounce, while silver settled 2.8% lower at $17.20 per ounce.

However, natural gas garnered considerable support in the face of the greenback's gains. That stemmed largely from this week's inventory data, which showed a draw of 207 bcf when the consensus had called for a draw of 178 bcf. Contracts for natural gas closed the session at $5.77 each, which translates to a 5.6% gain. Natural gas prices are up more than 100% from their September lows.

Oil prices found support after they fell 2% in midmorning trade. Contracts for crude were able to close pit trade with a fractional loss at $72.59 per barrel.

At the moment, the CRB Commodity Index is down 1.0% as it makes its way toward its first loss in six sessions. Meanwhile, the Dollar Index is up 1.1%. DJ30 -112.45 NASDAQ -23.45 SP500 -11.18 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 688/1.52 bln/1991 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 797/1.22 bln/2243

3:00 pm : While the broader equity market continues to trade with a near 1% loss, the energy sector has managed to limit its loss to just 0.2%. The sector's relative strength stems from a rebound in oil prices, which recently closed pit trade with a fractional loss at $72.59 per barrel after it traded as low as $71.21 per barrel.

The energy sector has also benefited from strength in select oil well services and equipment names like Halliburton (HAL 30.09, +0.49) and Weatherford International (WFT 16.86, +0.57). Reuters reported that UBS initiated coverage on both companies and rated them with Buys. According to the report, Baker Hughes (BHI 41.19, +0.25) was rated Neutral. DJ30 -97.26 NASDAQ -21.35 SP500 -9.81 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 720/1.39 bln/1946 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 825/1.13 bln/2200

2:30 pm : Weakness remains widespread, which has left only a few select names to stage gains this session. Among advancing issues is Allegheny Tech (ATI 40.04, +1.98), which is up for the seventh straight session and on its way toward its best single-session percentage gain in one month.

Support for shares of ATI stems from the company's guidance this morning. Management at the company expects fourth quarter earnings to range from $0.20 to $0.25 per share, which is well above the $0.04 per share that many analysts had forecast. DJ30 -101.24 NASDAQ -21.34 SP500 -10.10 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 721/1.30 bln/1932 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 770/1.07 bln/2236

2:05 pm : Every major sector is lower today and many are recording losses over 1%. The sector that is getting hit the hardest, though, is the materials group, which is down almost 2% for the session. Within this sector, agriculture chemical stocks are getting clobbered, including Potash (POT 113.75 -5.10), Mosaic (MOS 56.35 -3.33), and Agrium (AGU 59.97 -2.54). The primary reason for this weakness came on news that Agrium has made "significant progress" at its brownfield expansion at its Saskatchewan potash mine, which is expected to add 750K tonnes of annual potash capacity to the mine. This is important because that would represent ~2% of 2008 world production, and adding this amount to a market that is waiting for China to settle its annual contracts is a decisive negative for global potash prices.DJ30 -105.7 NASDAQ -23.1 SP500 -10.5 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 704/1201.1/1933 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 769/1013.1/2236

1:35 pm : All we see is red as we look across the major averages, at the individual sectors, and at many different commodities. Conversely, the dollar and treasurys have been strong throughout the day. Currently, the dollar is up about 1.15%, supported by another debt rating downgrade for Greece. The stock market, meanwhile, is moving off the lows set at about 1 ET, but is still posting losses over 1%.DJ30 -105.2 NASDAQ -23.6 SP500 -10.4 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 702/1135.1/1936 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 727/963.2/2261

1:05 pm : Strength in the dollar and weakness among financials have sent stocks on a steep retreat that has all 10 major sectors in negative territory. The downturn comes with conviction, too, as trading volume in the broader market spikes.

Another debt rating downgrade for Greece has led the U.S. dollar considerably higher against a basket of foreign currencies this session. In turn, the Dollar Index hit a new three-month high; it currently sports a 1.2% gain, which has weighed on stocks for the entire session.

In addition to broader market weakness, financials have felt the effects of a lackluster common stock offering from Citigroup (C 3.20, -0.21). The company priced its previously announced share offering at a near 9% discount to the previous session's closing price. Due to the low price tag, the Treasury has opted to delay the sale of its $5 billion of Citigroup shares.

On a similar note, insurer Conseco (CNO 5.00, -0.14) priced its latest common stock offering at $4.75 per share, which is a near 8% discount to the previous session's closing prices.

Financials have also been weighed down by consumer finance stocks (-3.2%) in the wake of the latest quarterly report from Discover Financial (DFS 14.96, -1.46). The company reported an increase in its net charge off rate.

Investment banks and brokerages (-2.3%) have also been forced to grapple with sellers. That follows word that influential analyst Meredith Whitney lowered her earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley (MS 29.20, -1.14) and Goldman Sachs (GS 161.92, -3.07).

Despite widespread weakness in the financial sector, regional banks have fared quite well. They are up 0.5% with help from PNC Bank (PNC 52.93, +0.93), which was initiated with an Overweight rating by analysts at JPMorgan.

Of the major sectors, losses are the steepest among materials stocks. The sector has shed 2.1% so far this session. Gold stocks, down 5.6%, have been a particularly heavy drag on the sector. That stems largely from a 2.7% drop in gold prices to $1105.40 per ounce. Commodities, in general, are down 1.2%, as measured by the CRB Commodity Index.

FedEx (FDX 84.75, -5.20) fed into this session's negative bias with its downside guidance. The company also posted quarterly earnings that matched those presented in its preannouncement, but they have been overshadowed.

Both General Mills (GIS 68.87, +0.58) and Rite Aid (RAD 1.48, +0.15) offered relatively solid quarterly reports, but their announcements have been lost in this session's selling effort.

The latest economic data was mixed as initial jobless claims climbed moderately to 480,000, which exceeded expectations, but the Philadelphia Fed Index came in above expectations at 20.4. The latter report only offered temporary support to this session's action.

Trading volume on the NYSE has been strong so far this session as the big board has already seen nearly 900 million shares exchange hands. Such strong participation is often associated with strong conviction. DJ30 -113.21 NASDAQ -25.11 SP500 -11.59 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 637/1.06 bln/1987 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 672/922 mln/2300

12:30 pm : Declining issues outnumber advancers by more than 4-to-1 in the broader market. The tone of trade has been negative since the opening bell.

Treasuries have gained ground as participants push against stocks. The benchmark 10-year Note is up a strong 27 ticks. That has pushed its yield back below 3.5%. Earlier this week it had been up above 3.6% for the first time in more than one month. DJ30 -107.92 NASDAQ -24.20 SP500 -10.83 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 707/952 mln/1880 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 746/848 mln/2202

12:00 pm : Sellers have redoubled their efforts to send the Dow to a fresh session low and the broader S&P 500 back toward its session low, which stands near the 1098 mark.

The renewed selling pressure comes as the Dollar Index moves to a 1.3% gain, which puts it at a fractionally improved three-month high. The gain by the greenback has sent commodity prices to a 1.3% loss, as measured by the CRB Commodity Index, which has cast an additional weight on the materials sector so that materials stocks trade with a 2.1% loss. DJ30 -98.25 NASDAQ -21.94 SP500 -9.97 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 696/844/1883 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 742/790 mln/2199

11:30 am : The major indices have managed to pare their losses, but weakness remains widespread. In turn, nine of the 10 major sectors are in the red.

Energy stocks make up the only sector to sport a gain. They have made their way to a fractional gain after they had been down as much as 1%. The move comes even though oil prices have fallen to a fresh session low of $71.60 per barrel, down 1.5%. DJ30 -84.19 NASDAQ -17.20 SP500 -7.76 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 697/736 mln/1841 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 747/681 mln/2151

11:00 am : Regional banks lagged during the previous two sessions, but have managed to rebound to a 1.5% gain this session. The move is especially impressive since the broader financial sector is currently down with a 0.7% loss.

Within the financial sector, consumer finance stocks (-2.0%), diversified financial services (-1.6%), and investment banks and brokerages (-1.5%) are under the most pressure.

Discover Financial (DFS 15.28, -1.14) is a primary laggard among consumer finance stocks. The company reported this morning that it brought in $0.63 per share, but also said its net charge off rate was 8.43%, which is up 295 basis points from the prior year and up four basis points from the previous quarter.

Citigroup (C 3.22, -0.23) continues to weigh on diversified financial services firms after the company announced lackluster share offering results. Due to the low offer price, the Treasury has opted to delay the sale of its $5 billion of Citigroup shares.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley (MS 29.58, -0.76) and Goldman Sachs (GS 162.08, -2.91) have taken their toll on investment banks and brokerages. The pair had their estimates lowered by Meredith Whitney, who has been widely credited with correctly calling the struggles of banks for the past two years. DJ30 -78.29 NASDAQ -15.21 SP500 -6.36 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 780/624 mln/1713 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 795/592 mln/2057

10:35 am : The US Dollar Index pushed to a 3-month high this morning, which has weighed on most of the commodity group. Additionally, the stock market opened sharply lower and is sitting just above its session low, which is adding additional weakness to the commodity complex.

January crude oil traded in the red for most of its overnight and morning session. After pushing into positive territory moments ago for just a few minutes, crude is back in the red, currently 1% lower at $71.91 per barrel. January natural gas, on the other hand, has been in positive territory all session. After trading almost sideways all session the energy component began to gain momentum early this morning, rising over 2% higher to session highs of $5.611 per MMBtu. Ahead of this week's inventory data, where consensus is calling for a draw of 178 bcf, natural gas is 2.5% higher at $5.597 per MMBtu. Following the data, which showed a draw of 207 bcf, natural gas spiked to fresh highs of $5.911 per MMBtu and is 7.5% higher at $5.869 per MMBtu.

Precious metals are also taking a hit on the strength in the dollar. February gold and March silver have steadily moved lower this session and are trading just above lows of $1113.80 per ounce and $17.31 per ounce. Gold is currently 1.8% lower at $1115.20 per ounce, while silver is 1.9% lower at $17.36 per ounce.

Separately, in shipping news, the Baltic Dry Index lost 2.8% overnight to 3,376 and has traded lower in 17 out of its last 20 sessions.DJ30 -86.08 NASDAQ -20.99 SP500 -8.64 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 674/480.5 mln/1781 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 638/489.6 mln/2177

10:00 am : Stocks have rolled over after a failed attempt to trim opening losses. Stocks are now at fresh session lows -- losses remain steepest among materials stocks (-1.5%) and financials (-1.1%).

The stock market's recent descent has steadied, though. The pause comes amid a better-than-expected Philadelphia Fed Index reading of 20.4, up from 16.7 in the previous post. The consensus had called for a reading of 16.0 for the latest reading.

Leading indicators for November increased 0.9%, which is stronger than the 0.7% increase that had been expected and is up from the 0.3% increase that had previously been registered.

Early movers: Trading up -- FUN +23.6%, WNI +15.7%, APWR +10.1%, ADPT +5.8%; Trading down -- GEOY -22.3%, NANO -11.6%, YONG -10.3%, ANDS -9.5%, HOV -9.2%, LYG -8.1%, C -7.8%, EZCH -7.2%, AZK -6.9%, IRE -6.6%, AEM -6.5%, HOG -6.4%, LDK -6.3%DJ30 -79.43 NASDAQ -19.41 SP500 -9.21 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 643/296 mln/1701 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 482/371 mln/2269

09:45 am : The Dollar Index has eased off of its morning highs, but still sports a sizable gain of 0.9%. Meanwhile, stocks have eased up from their opening lows, but they continue to trade with broad-based losses.

Pressure is stiffest against materials stocks and financial stocks. Both sectors are down 0.8%. Financials are seeing some of the most action within the S&P 500 as trading volume is currently the most active in shares of financial giants Bank of America (BAC 15.22, -0.06) and Citigroup (C 3.20, -0.25). Citigroup recently priced a previously announced common stock offering at $3.15 per share, which is a near 9% discount to its closing price for the previous session. DJ30 -59.40 NASDAQ -10.19 SP500 -6.33 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 759/165 mln/1498 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 528/275 mln/2164

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -6.70. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -9.80. The tone among premarket participants remains dour as a flurry of disappointing headlines weighs on this morning's mood. News of another debt rating downgrade for Greece led to strength in the U.S. dollar, but driven stock futures broadly lower. The sharp upturn by the dollar has pressured commodities futures, too. The confluence of broader market weakness and weakness among commodities is likely to create a stiff headwind for materials stocks this session. The financial looks like it will have to grapple with particularly stiff pressure, too, given a lackluster share offering from Citigroup (C) and lowered estimates for Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) by influential analyst Meredith Whitney. Meanwhile, FedEx (FDX) is under considerable pressure all of its own following downside guidance; it was last quoted 3.7% lower at $86.60 per share ahead of the opening bell. The latest batch of initial jobless claims hasn't been anything to cheer about; the tally climbed modestly from the previous week and proved to be higher than expected. Still to come is the latest Philadelphia Fed Index and the leading economic indicators report (10:00 AM ET).

09:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -7.60. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -11.00. U.S. stock futures are up modestly from their morning lows, but they continue to point to a lower start to the session. Meanwhile, Europe's major markets are also under pressure. That has led the EuroStoxx to a 0.7% loss. Banks are among the worst performers as officials from Europe's central bank move closer to forcing banks to provide more information about collateral for ECB loans. In Britain, the FTSE is currently down 1.1%. Retailers are weak after a surprise 0.3% month-over-month fall in November retail sales. Banks have also been pressured. That has Lloyds Banking Group (LYG) and Barclays (BCS) down considerably. In Germany, the DAX is down 0.7% as Deutsche Bank (DB) and Commerzbank slide. In other news, Germany will sell a record 343 billion euros of debt next year, the Federal Finance Agency said. In France, the CAC is down 0.8% at the moment. Energy giant Total (TOT) is a primary laggard, but it is joined by financial outfits Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, and Credit Agricole. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.1%. Banks like Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MTU) were hit by profit takers, but Fast Retailing was a primary laggard. TDK offered support, though. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 1.2%. Bank stocks retreated for their third straight session as concerns for slower lending from Beijing persist. In turn, China Construction Bank and Bank of China fell to their lowest levels in more than two months. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite fell 2.3%. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.9%.

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -6.70. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -10.00. Stock futures remain weak in the wake of news that initial jobless claims for the week ending December 12 totaled 480,000, which is more than the 465,000 initial claims that had been widely expected. The latest tally marked an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's total. Continuing claims climbed just 5,000 from the previous week to roughly 5.19 million, which is higher than the 5.17 million that had been forecast by economists.

08:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -7.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -12.30. Stock futures are down markedly as the Dollar Index climbs 1.1% to trade at fresh three-month highs. Shares of investment banks and brokerages have come under increased pressure amid news that estimates were cut for Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) by influential financial analyst Meredith Whitney. Shares of GS are down 1.7% to $162.13 per share, while MS shares are down 1.2% to $29.97 each. Meanwhile, shares of financial behemoth Citigroup (C) are down nearly 8% to $3.18 per share after the company priced its previously announced share offering at $3.15 per share, which marks a near 9% discount to the stock's closing price for the previous session. The latest quarterly announcement from FedEx (FDX) hasn't helped the tone of things. The global shipment company brought in earnings of $1.10 per share for its latest quarter. The results are in-line with the company's pre-announcement, but above the consensus of $1.06 per share. However, FedEx issued mixed guidance that guided below the third quarter consensus of $0.84 per share, but issued guidance in-line with the fiscal 2010 of $3.46 per share. Shares of FDX are down more than 3% to $86.99 per share in premarket trade. However, General Mills (GIS) brought in better-than-expected adjusted earnings of $1.54 per share for its latest quarter and raised its earnings outlook for fiscal 2010 to range from an adjusted $4.52 to $4.57 per share, which allows room to beat the current consensus of $4.52 per share. Broad weakness in premarket trade has hampered GIS so that the shares trade with a tame 0.7% gain at $68.74 per share ahead of the opening bell. In other earnings news, Rite Aid (RAD) posted a loss of $0.10 per share for its latest quarter, but that wasn't as steep as many had expected. The company maintained an in-line outlook for fiscal 2010. The company's stock is up nearly 13% to $1.50 per share in premarket trade. Still to come this morning are the latest initial jobless claims figures (8:30 AM ET), along with the December Philadelphia Fed Index and leading economic indicators for November (10:00 AM ET).

06:22 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -6.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -13.00.

06:22 am : Nikkei...10163.80...-13.60...-0.10%. Hang Seng...21347.63...-264.10...-1.20%.

06:22 am : FTSE...5272.60...-47.90...-0.90%. DAX...5862.67...-41.00...-0.70%.

M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body analysis)
Go Back To TheStrategyLab.com Homepage


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

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests


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

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