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 Post subject: March 25th Thursday 2010 Emini TF ($TF_F) points +10.90
PostPosted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:35 am 
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Trade Journal By M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body analysis)

Trade journals are crucial in preventing us traders from becoming complacent or content with our trading plan or the markets because without having the ability to review archives of past trading days in a forever changing market...we won't know it's time to adapt when change occurs in the markets because broker statements alone doesn't help us keep that edge in comparison to a trade journal. In addition, although this journal contains advertisements involving my trade methods, it does contain useful trading tips a few times per week. Thus, if you're looking for trading tips that can improve your trading and understand that profitable trading involves more than just entry signals...consistently read this trade journal and the #FuturesTrades chat room logs where I post my trades in real-time from entry to exit (see link below) via my IRC user name wrbtrader that's the same as my user name on twitter.

Today's #FuturesTrades chat room logs is archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=481.

Quote:
Today's results are 4 wins : 2 losses : 1 breakeven. Missed most of the best price action that had good trade opportunities but there still were a few trade opportunities I was able to exploit for profits that allowed me to reach my profit goal for the trading day.

Trading Tip: There's a difference between Narrow Range Analysis versus Expansion / Contraction Analysis...to learn more...contact me about the difference.


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, if you're interested in having free access to one of my profitable trade strategies along with earning extra income with little effort...join my referral program @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ReferralProgram.htm

My Trading Performance: +10.90 points in the ICE Russell 2000 Emini TF ($TF_F) Futures
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Stocks Abandon Rally
By Alexandra Twin, senior writer
March 25, 2010: 6:37 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks gave up gains Thursday, ending little changed, as a late-session bounce in the dollar sapped the strength out of a rally that had pushed the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq near new 18-month highs.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added 5 points, or less than 0.1%. Earlier it had risen as much as 119 points, to within 46 points of 11,000, before giving back most of those gains. The S&P 500 index (SPX) lost 2 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) was little changed.

The market rallied through the early afternoon after Best Buy and Qualcomm issued upbeat profit forecasts and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said interest rates can stay low for a while.

But the advance crumbled in the last half hour as the dollar firmed up and commodity prices and stocks cut gains. Treasury prices tumbled, boosting the corresponding yields after the government's auction of $32 billion in seven-year notes drew tepid demand.

Stocks fell Wednesday after Fitch's downgrade of Portugal's debt increased worries about euro zone debt issues, sending the dollar higher.

However, the trend has been largely to the upside over the last few weeks, with the major indexes rising in five of the last six weeks, pushing the Dow industrials closer to 11,000, a key psychological level.

Investors are also still reacting well to the end of the uncertainty around the health care bill, which President Obama signed into law Tuesday, said Kelli Hill, portfolio manager at Ashfield Capital Partners.

"The uncertainty about the health care bill is gone and there are plenty of indications that the economic recovery is picking up," she said. "Best Buy's report shows corporate earnings are going to keep improving, and the run-up in the technology and transportation sectors is an economic play."

A broad stock advance petered out by the close, with technology and retail shares holding on to gains and energy, materials, metal and mining stocks all retreating.

Market breadth turned mixed after having been positive through the session. Trading volume was moderate. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers four to three on volume of 1.156 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers eight to five on volume of 2.60 billion shares.

After the close, Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) reported weaker earnings that beat forecasts and higher revenue that also topped expectations.

Best Buy: The electronics retailer reported higher quarterly sales and earnings that topped estimates thanks to stronger sales of high-ticket items like notebook computers, mobile phones and flat-panel TVs.

The company also lifted its full-year earnings forecast due to increased demand for electronics in an improving economy.

Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500) shares rose 3.6%.

Wireless chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM, Fortune 500) boosted its fiscal second-quarter earnings and sales forecast, due to a pickup in licensing revenue and chipset demand. Shares rose 5%.
0:00 /4:25Downside of health care reform

Bernanke: The Federal Reserve chairman, speaking before a House committee Thursday said that record-low rates are still needed to keep the economy chugging along.

He said that a still germinating economic recovery, a persistently high unemployment rate and little in the way of inflationary pressure mean the Fed has some breathing room when it comes to interest rates. He said higher rates will be needed at some point in the future, but not in the near term.

Bernanke was speaking before the House Financial Services Committee as part of a hearing on how the Fed plans to withdraw the emergency funding programs put in place at the height of the financial crisis.

His comments essentially echoed those in the statement accompanying last week's Fed decision, in which the central bank held interest rates steady at historic lows near zero percent.

Greece: Worries about a Greek default were further cooled Thursday following a series of developments as a European Union (EU) summit was about to get underway in Brussels.

Reports say EU leaders want to put together a joint loan package for Greece of €22 billion to €23 billion that would be funded by euro zone nations and the International Monetary Fund, should Greece run out of borrowing options.

Earlier, Greece and Spain called for the EU to create a bailout fund to provide cheap loans to struggling member nations. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank extended looser funding rules.

Worries about a euro zone debt crisis were exacerbated Wednesday after ratings agency Fitch lowered Portugal's debt rating.

Like Greece, Portugal is one of the PIIGS, the five euro zone nations with serious debt problems. Ireland, Italy and Spain are the other three.

Dubai: Dubai's government said it will inject $9.5 billion in funding into Dubai World and its property development arm Nakheel as part of a long-in-the-works restructuring plan. Even with the infusion, Dubai World will still owe its creditors more than $14 billion.

Global markets were rocked in November when the city-state, the most populous of the seven United Arab Emirates, requested a freeze on $26 billion in debt payments, raising worries that it would default.

The $9.5 billion infusion was seen a step in the right direction.

VIX: The Volatility (VIX) index, the market's so-called fear gauge, turned higher in the late afternoon as investors backed out of stocks. The VIX and the market typically move in opposing directions. On Wednesday, the VIX fell to a two-and-a-half-year low.

Labor market: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell last week to the lowest level in six weeks. Claims fell to 442,000 last week from a revised 456,000 the previous week. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought claims would fall to 450,000.

Continuing claims, a measure of Americans who have been receiving benefits for a year or more, fell to 4,648,000 from 4,725,500 in the previous week.
What if interest rates don't rise?

The dollar and commodities: The dollar fell versus the euro and gained against the yen.

U.S. light crude oil for May delivery slipped 8 cents to settle at $80.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for May delivery rose $4.10 to settle at $1,092.90 per ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.93% from 3.83% late Wednesday after a tepid response to an auction of seven-year notes. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

A $32 billion auction of $7 year notes drew moderate demand, following a mild response to Wednesday's auction of $42 billion in five-year notes.

World markets: In overseas trading, European markets gained. London's FTSE rose 0.9%, France's CAC 40 rose 1.3% and Germany's DAX added 1.6%. Asian markets ended mixed, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down 1.1% and Japan's Nikkei index up 0.1%.

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Yahoo! Finance

4:25 pm : There were a handful of catalysts for trade this session, but ultimately it was a bounce by the greenback that sent stocks reeling from fresh 52-week highs.

The early mood among market participants was positive after it was learned that Dubai's government will give $9.5 billion in new funding to support the restructuring of Dubai World and developer Nakheel. Meanwhile, concerns about the fiscal health of Greece were allayed by word that the European Central Bank will alter rules on collateral and keep the credit threshold in its liquidity providing operations at BBB- beyond 2010. Such moves would assist Greece's efforts to borrow.

In the afternoon it was reported by Dow Jones that an aid package of 23 billion euros for Greece was discussed at a summit of European leaders. Reuters reported that the eurozone is ready to contribute bilateral loans to Greece and shoulder two-thirds of an aid package. The International Monetary Fund would take up the balance of such a package.

Once the afternoon announcements started to circulate the euro began to weaken. That helped win support for the U.S. dollar, which had been down as much as 0.5% against a basket of foreign currencies, but it settled the session with a 0.2% gain as it made its way to a new 10-month high.

The dollar's turnaround stirred profit-takers to action. Prior to their flurry, each of the three major indices had ascended more than 1% to fresh 52-week highs.

Financials had been a primary source of strength. As a group financials were up as much as 2.5% as bank stocks and diversified financial services plays attracted buyers, but the sector faltered and finished with a much more moderate gain of 0.4%.

Materials stocks were hit especially hard by the greenback's bounce. The sector was up 0.8% at its session high, but fell to a 2.0% loss.

While the broader market surrendered all of its gains, better-than-expected earnings from Best Buy (BBY 42.66, +1.48) helped retailers remain strong into the close -- retailers finished with a 1.2% gain, collectively.

Qualcomm (QCOM 42.14, +1.95) won support for itself after it increased its earnings outlook. It couldn't keep the Nasdaq from rolling over, though.

Treasuries put in another weak session. Pressure intensified after a $32 billion auction of 7-year Notes drew a yield of roughly 3.37% and a bid-to-cover of 2.61 with an indirect bid of 41.9%. The average bid-to-cover ratio in previous auctions stood at 2.72 and the average indirect bid average stood at 54.4%. As Treasuries weakened in the wake of the auction the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note climbed above 3.90% for the first time since January, but the Note pared its losses as sellers mounted an effort against stocks.

Economic data was limited news that initial jobless claims for the week ended Mar. 20 totaled 442,000, which was a bit less than the expected total of 450,000 and down 14,000 from the prior week. Continuing claims came in at 4.65 million, which was more than the 4.56 million continuing claims that had been expected, but down roughly 54,000 week-over-week.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a testimony to the House Financial Services Committee regarding the Fed's exit strategy from the extraordinary measures taken to revitalize the U.S. economy. No striking plans were revealed no were any new clues regarding the outlook for interest rates.

Advancing Sectors: Consumer Discretionary (+0.5%), Financials (+0.4%), Tech (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: Materials (-2.0%), Energy (-1.5%), Telecom (-0.9%), Utilities (-0.7%), Health Care (-0.5%), Industrials (-0.2%)
Unchanged: Consumer Staples DJ30 +5.06 NASDAQ -1.35 NQ100 -0.1% R2K -0.7% SP400 -0.7% SP500 -1.99 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 989/2.59 bln/1655 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1256/1.15 bln/1779

3:35 pm : The dollar broke into positive territory after reversing its early losses as the Euro broke down amid numerous Greek rescue headlines. In turn, commodities pared their early gains.

Precious metals held on to minor gains despite the dollar's recovery. April gold closed 0.4% higher at $1090.90 per ounce. May silver closed 0.6% higher at $16.74 per ounce.

April natural gas sold off in the morning ahead of its inventory report this morning. It hit closed 2.9% lower at $3.99 per MMBtu. Natural Gas futures are now at 6-month lows.

Crude oil futures trended higher throughout the session but faded after hitting resistance at the $81.50 level. It closed fractionally lower at $80.53 per barrel. DJ30 +53.58 NASDAQ +14.95 SP500 +4.55 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1559/2.12 bln/1095 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1756/817 mln/1271

3:00 pm : The stock market has seen its gain more than halved with the latest bout of selling pressure.

Materials stocks have been among the hardest hit sectors. As such, the group surrendered its modest gains to now trade with a 0.5% loss.

However, financials held up relatively well against the recent slide. Though the sector is off of its high, it is still up 1.5%, which is more than triple the gain of the broader market.

Volatility has spiked with the sell-off, such that the Volatility Index has gone from a loss of roughly 4% to a 1% gain. DJ30 +68.55 NASDAQ +15.35 SP500 +5.20 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1560/1.94 bln/1073 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1803/745 mln/1205

2:35 pm : In mid-afternoon trade, the major averages continue to fall as earlier gains are quickly erased. In turn, strength in the dollar continues following the reports that Europe's leaders are discussing an aid package of 23 billion euros for Greece.

Meanwhile, gold has been running higher and is now up $1.40 per ounce to $1,090.20. DJ30 +61.7 NASDAQ +14 SP500 +4.9 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1580/1816.4/1051 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1800/694.7/1183

1:55 pm : Though stocks are still well into positive ground, they have surrendered a chunk of their gains in recent action. The downturn comes as the dollar makes its way into positive territory to trade with a near 0.2% gain.

Reports have started to surface that Europe's leaders are discussing an aid package of 23 billion euros for Greece and that European Central Bank President Trichet said that aid for Greece from the International Monetary Fund in place of aid from the eurozone is bad. DJ30 +90.09 NASDAQ +25.48 SP500 +8.86 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1811/1.60 bln/805 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2090/600 mln/916

1:30 pm : Results from a $32 billion auction of 7-year Notes were released at 1:00 PM ET. The auction drew a yield of roughly 3.37% and a bid-to-cover of 2.61 with an indirect bid of 41.9%. The average bid-to-cover ratio in recent auctions stands at 2.72 and the average indirect bid average stands at 54.4%. Initially, Treasuries didn't make much of a move lower in the wake of the announcement, but they have encountered increased pressure in more recent action. As such, the benchmark 10-year Note is now down 15 ticks so that its yield now stands at 3.91%, which is the highest level since June 2009.

Meanwhile, the stock market continues to trade with steady, broad-based gains near its session high. DJ30 +111.17 NASDAQ +31.40 SP500 +11.65 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1894/1.49 bln/721 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2205/558 mln/801

1:00 pm : A modest dip by the dollar and strength among financial stocks have driven the broader market to a new 52-week high.

The dollar is down 0.2% against competing currencies at the moment. Its pullback from the 10-month high that it set during the prior session stems partly from efforts to calm sovereign debt concerns as Dubai provides aid to Dubai World and Germany proposes bilateral support from Europe and aid from the International Monetary Fund as a last resort to Greece. Reports also indicate that the European Central Bank may keep the credit threshold in its liquidity providing operations at BBB- beyond 2010 in a move that would bolster Greece's ability to borrow.

While the dollar's decline provided an early catalyst for gains, financials have emerged to provide the broader market with leadership. The sector is up 2.4% at the moment. That puts it on pace for its best single-session percentage gain in a couple of weeks. Diversified banks and diversified financial services plays are the strongest drivers in the sector.

Leadership from the financial sector has taken the S&P 500 to the 1180 line, which had not been touched since September 2008. The benchmark index has had a bit of trouble extending its advance beyond that line, though.

While financials are the drivers of the broader market, large-cap tech has given the Nasdaq Composite a modest lead over its counterparts. Qualcomm (QCOM 42.59, +2.40) is among the tech-rich index's primary sources of support after the company increased its earnings outlook.

Best Buy (BBY 43.41, +2.23) has won support for itself, thanks to better-than-expected earnings. It has shared its strength with other retailers, which are up a collective 1.8%.

Utilities have failed to find support this session. They are down 0.4%, collectively, after analysts at Citigroup issued a raft of downgrades on various electric utilities plays.

Economic data was limited to the latest weekly jobless claims count, which saw a slightly steeper-than-expected decline in initial claims, but a larger-than-expected continuing claims tally.

In a testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke stated that the usage of language in FOMC policy statements regarding low levels of interest rates for extended periods of time depends on the economy and that unemployment and capacity utilization are two key metrics in its assessment.

Due at any moment are results from the latest round of Treasury auctions. Treasuries have had a rather quiet session in the wake of their weakness in the previous session. DJ30 +108.60 NASDAQ +30.96 SP500 +12.14 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1878/1.38 bln/712 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2193/518 mln/765

12:30 pm : The stock market has started to pull back a bit since it set a session high roughly one hour ago. There isn't any news item to account for the downward drift, just a simple loss of momentum appears to be the cause. After all, strength remains broad based as advancing issues outnumber decliners by 3-to-1 in the S&P 500.

Amid this session's buying, volatility has taken a tumble. In turn, the Volatility Index is down 4.0%. Still, it isn't quite back to the lows that it set last week. DJ30 +99.16 NASDAQ +28.63 SP500 +11.10 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1819/1.20 bln/759 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2149/478 mln/796

12:00 pm : Stocks have steadied their advance to take a bit of a breather. The pause comes as the S&P 500 runs into the 1180 line, which hasn't been touched since late September 2008.

Meanwhile, the dollar is back near its session low as it trades with a 0.4% loss. However, commodities haven't found much support -- the CRB Commodity Index is down with a fractional loss. DJ30 +102.71 NASDAQ +30.62 SP500 +11.54 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1840/1.11 bln/720 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2187/435 mln/749

11:30 am : Stocks recently broke free from a narrow trading range to set fresh session highs, which also mark new 52-week highs for the major indices. At an individual level, 73 stocks in the S&P 500 have it fresh 52-week highs this session; 7 Dow components have set new 52-week highs; 155 Nasdaq names have climbed to new 52-week highs.

Though this session's ascent continues has been broad based, it continues to be led by financials, which are now up 2.1%.

In his testimony, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke stated that language in the recent FOMC policy statements that the language regarding low levels of interest rates for an extended period depends on the economy -- unemployment and capacity utilization are two key metrics in that assessment. DJ30 +100.06 NASDAQ +32.38 SP500 +12.10 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1836/955 mln/684 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2245/380 mln/664

11:00 am : Financials continue to trade with strength and have even extended their advance to a collective 1.7% gain. AIG (AIG 34.52, +1.35), Citigroup (C 4.34, +0.19), and Marshall & Isley (MI 8.39, +0.36) are presently the three leading names in the sector.

Meanwhile, utilities stocks have fallen to a 0.4% loss following a raft of downgrades by analysts at Citigroup. FirstEnergy (FE 39.66, -0.61), RRI Energy (RRI 3.96, -0.14), Public Services Enterprise (PEG 29.45, -0.64), and NRG Energy (NRG 20.91, -0.26) are among the names that the analysts lowered their ratings on.

As for the broader market, the S&P 500 has entered into a rather narrow range of trade. Action has becom a bit choppy too. DJ30 +70.74 NASDAQ +20.93 SP500 +7.73 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1593/760 mln/858 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1997/318 mln/862

10:30 am : The dollar index continues to recover losses and is moving closer to positive territory, which is causing commodities to push lower.

April natural gas has traded in negative territory for the majority of today's session so far. About 20 minutes after pit trading began in the energy markets, natural gas began to sell off sharply and hit new morning lows of $3.972 per MMBtu near the top of the hour. Ahead of inventory data, natural gas was trading just above those lows. Following the data, which showed a build of 11 bcf compared to a build of 8 bcf, natural gas pushes to fresh lows of $3.95 per MMBtu, currently at $4.01, down 2.3%.

May crude oil moved into positive territory overnight and has remained there since. Highs of $81.40 per barrel were hit an hour ago. Currently, the energy component is trading at $80.97 per barrel, up 0.4%.

After trading in positive territory for the last seven hours, April gold dipped into the red momentarily and is currently at $1089.40 per ounce, up $0.60. May silver has showed more strength than gold in recent activity. Silver touched highs of $16.86 per ounce, but has since pulled back and is 0.5% higher at $16.73 per ounce. DJ30 +70.06 NASDAQ +19.23 SP500 +7.56 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1538/521.0 mln/837 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1968/225.6 mln/836

10:00 am : Stocks have slipped slightly from their opening highs, but overall gains remain both impressive and broad based. The broader market's dip comes as the dollar trims its loss so that it is now down a relatively tame 0.2% against a basket of foreign currencies.

Though financials and tech, the two largest sectors by market weight in the broader market, are both up 1.1%, health care, energy, and telecom have had difficulty garnering support. The lagging sectors are currently flat.

Fed Chairman Bernanke is scheduled to begin his testimony about the Fed's exit strategy from the extroadinary measures it has taken to pull the U.S. economy out of recession to the House Financial Services Committee at any minute.

Early movers: Trading up -- BKRS +28.1%, NIV +18.9%, TRIT +14.2%, SCLN +14.1%, QGLY +13.5%, RDCM +12.4%, LULU +11.4%, ADES +11.3%, GIII +10.9%, SMI +10.2%; Trading down -- MELA -26.8%, MSN -25.9%, AKT -11.8%, AKF -11.3%, MAIL -10.7%, KTCC -7.1%, FLML -6.3%, UTIW -5.5%

Advancing Sectors: Financials (+1.1%), Tech (+1.1%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.9%), Industrials (+0.8%), Consumer Staples (+0.3%), Materials (+0.3%), Utilities (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: (None)
Unchanged: Energy, Health Care, Telecom DJ30 +68.77 NASDAQ +18.86 SP500 +7.83 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1577/330 mln/698 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2051/164 mln/694

09:45 am : The three major stock indices jumbed out to fractionally improved 52-week highs to start the session. The move has been broad based with all 10 major sectors in positive territory.

Financials continue to show leadership. The sector outperformed during the prior session, when it was the only sector to post a gain, and is up another 1.0% in this session's early action. Banks and diversified financial services plays are among its primary sources of strength.

Tech has also emerged as an early leader. The sector is up 1.1% as Qualcomm (QCOM 43.45, +3.26) makes its way to a near two-month high after it hiked its earnings outlook this morning. DJ30 +64.39 NASDAQ +18.88 SP500 +7.73 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1606/195 mln/610 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2089/113 mln/575

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +8.40. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +16.50. Concerns about sovereign debt have been partly quelled with word that Dubai will provide aid to Dubai World and Germany has proposed that Greece be provided with aid from the International Monetary Fund and Europe as a last resort. Those announcements have caused the dollar to pull back a bit from the 10-month high that it registered against competing currencies during the prior session. As such, the Dollar Index is down 0.4% at the moment. The dip by the dollar has helped win support for stocks. However, corporate headlines have been met with a mixed response as better-than-expected earnings from Best Buy (BBY) and an increased outlook from Qualcomm (QCOM) drive their shares higher ahead of the opening bell, but Red Hat (RHT) has been pressured despite better-than-expected earnings of its own. Texas Industries (TXI) is also under pressure after it failed to hit Wall Street's consensus quarterly earnings estimate. Economic data has been limited to the latest weekly jobless claims count, which saw a slightly steeper-than-expected decline in initial claims, but a larger-than-expected continuing claims tally. Still to come is a testimony from Fed Chairman Bernanke at 10:00 AM ET and results from an auction of 7-year Treasuries at 1:00 PM ET.

09:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +8.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +15.30. U.S. stock futures have ticked to fresh morning highs. In the meantime, Europe's major bourses have put together strong gains on the cusp of the European Union's latest summit, which comes amid a recent credit rating downgrade of Portugal and ongoing concerns about the fiscal health of Greece. To the latter issue, reports indicate that the European Central Bank said it would keep the minimum credit threshold in its liquidity providing operations at investment grade level BBB- beyond the end of 2010. That will help Greece since the original plan called for an increase to an A- rating. Meanwhile, Germany has reportedly urged European Union leaders to agree that the International Monetary Fund and bilateral European aid could be used as a last resort to support Greece. Germany's DAX is currently up 0.8% as its advancing issues outnumber its decliners by 5-to-1. E.On is a primary leader at the moment. Broad-based strength has also helped France's CAC make its way to a 0.8% gain of its own. ArcelorMittal (MT) is a primary leader after analysts at Credit Suisse added the name to its Europe Focus List. Meanwhile, Britain's FTSE is up 0.5% at the moment. Banking issues are providing the most support as HSBC (HBC), Standard Chartered, and Barclays (BCS) sport impressive gains. According to data, retail sales in Britain climbed 1.9% in February. In Asia, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index finished flat Thursday and Japan's Nikkei eked out a 0.1% gain. Some exporters were buoyed by a weaker yen after the dollar was driven higher in the wake of Portugal's credit rating downgrade. Sony (SNE) failed to find support, though. Advantest (ADE) and other semiconductor-linked shares gained ahead of some earnings announcements from industry members. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 1.1%. China Unicom (CHU) was among the worst performers after it posted a lower-than-forecast profit. PetroChina (PTR) also slipped after it posted a smaller-than-expected profit of its own. However, appliance and electronics retailer Huiyin Appliances surged in its debut. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite closed with a 1.2% loss.

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +6.40. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +10.50. The dollar has eased up from its morning low so that it now trades with a 0.3% loss against competing currencies, but stock futures still point to a solid start for the session. The mood among premarket participants has been generally unaffected by the latest jobless claims tally. Initial jobless claims for the week ended Mar. 20 totaled 442,000, which is a bit less than the expected total of 450,000 and down 14,000 from the prior week. Continuing claims came in at 4.65 million, which is more than the 4.56 million continuing claims that had been expected, but down roughly 54,000 week-over-week.

08:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +6.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +10.50. During the prior session the dollar made strongest percentage gain against a basket of foreign currencies since December and drove the stock market to its worst percentage loss in one month. However, the greenback's pullback this morning has been cause for buying ahead of the opening bell -- the Dollar Index is currently down 0.4%. The dollar's dip comes amid news from The Wall Street Journal that Dubai's government will give $9.5 billion in new funding to support the restructuring of Dubai World and developer Nakheel and word that the European Central Bank is launching a overhaul of its rules on collateral in a move that should help Greece through its public debt crisis. Also, Germany has reportedly urged European Union leaders to agree International Monetary Fund and bilateral European aid could be used as a last resort for Greece if it reached the brink of insolvency ahead of a summit of European Union leaders. Coming up at the bottom of the hour is the latest weekly jobless claims count. Fed Chairman Bernanke will testify to the House Financial Services Committee about the Fed's exit strategy at 10:00 AM ET. Treasury Secretary Geithner is scheduled to provide a testimony to the House Appropriations Committee's State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee at 1:30 PM ET about Treasury's international programs. Shortly before Geithner's testimony, results from the latest round of Treasury auctions will be released; $32 billion of 7-year Notes are slated for auction and the results are due at 1:00 PM ET.

06:25 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +5.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +9.50.

06:25 am : Nikkei...10828.85...+13.80...+0.10%. Hang Seng...20778.55...-230.10...-1.10%.

06:25 am : FTSE...5699.90...+22.20...+0.40%. DAX...6078.78...+40.10...+0.70%.

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

Best Regards,
M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body analysis)
Image@ http://twitter.com/wrbtrader

Phone: +1 708 572-4885
Business Hours: 8am - 5pm est (Mon - Fri)
Skype Messenger: kebec2002
questions@thestrategylab.com
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