TheStrategyLab.com Price Action Trading Support Forum

Trade Results of M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body/bar analysis)
TheStrategyLab Price Action Trading (no technical indicators)
Phone: +1 708 572-4885
Free Chat Room: http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewforum.php?f=164
Archive Real-Time Chat Logs (timestamp, entries/exits, position size): http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewforum.php?f=20
Accolades (Testimonials): http://www.thestrategylab.com/Accolades.htm
TheStrategyLab Business Hours: 8am - 5pm est (Mon - Fri)
wrbanalysis@gmail.com (24/7)
http://stocktwits.com/wrbtrader (24/7)
http://twitter.com/wrbtrader (24/7)


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

Price Action Trade Performance for Today: Emini TF ($TF_F) futures @ $0.00 dollars or +0.00 points, Emini ES ($ES_F) futures @ $2,125.00 dollars or +42.50 points, Light Crude Oil CL ($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 @ $2,125.00 dollars

Disclaimer: Today's trading performance is not an indication of my future performance and not an indication of the future performance for any trader that decides to learn/apply WRB Analysis.

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

Today's Trade Log: All of my live trades are posted real-time in the timestamp ##TheStrategyLab free chat room for anyone to do a real-time review. The live trade is posted 3.2 seconds on average after the trade confirmation via an auto script to minimize delays in posting of my trades. You can review today's price action trade journal about my trades (e.g. time, price entry, contract size, price exit, market analysis) as the trade traversed to its completion. In addition, sometimes I'll post real-time trading tips in the free ##TheStrategyLab chat room involving WRBs, WRB Hidden GAPs, Key Market Events (KME), Tutorial Chapters 2 & 3, WRB Zones, Reaction Highs/Lows, Contracting Volatility or Expanding Volatility. Its all archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=165&t=2515

##TheStrategyLab Chat Room is free. The free chat room is not a signal calling trading room. I do not mentor (never have) although I get many requests to do mentoring. There is education but only in members private threads at the forum involving members asking questions (help) about their own trading. Thus, the primary purpose of TheStrategyLab free chat room is for you to use as your trade journal so that you can use as valuable feedback and for members to help each other...as in more eyes on the market. Also, you can use TheStrategyLab free chat room to ask real-time WRB Analysis questions. Yet, please do not post your brokerage statements in the free chat room. Instead, its highly recommended that you only post your brokerage statements in your private thread for security reasons. TheStrategyLab free chat room is on IRC via users request because the IRC servers are located in many different countries, software in many different languages and many different types of social media software can be used to log in. I'm the moderator of the free chat room. Thus, I keep the peace between members via removing trouble makers so that members can peacefully post their market observations, trades, WRB Analysis commentary about the markets.

TheStrategyLab free chat room is not for traders looking for someone to hold their hands and tell them when to buy or sell. TheStrategyLab is for you to post your real-time analysis or trades so that you can review as feedback for any trading day to provide valuable information about the results in your broker statements. Access instructions for chat room @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewforum.php?f=164


Also, posted below for you to review 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.

Price Action Analysis via Advance WRB Analysis Tutorial Chapters @ 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

Analysis -----> Trade Signals

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). All WRB Analysis Tutorial Chapters 1 - 12 are included in the purchase of the Volatility Trading Report (VTR).

Daily Trading Plan Routine @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=316&t=3366 contains brief information about trading plan, market context, brokers, trading time frames, position size management and other discussions.

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

Market Context Summaries

The below summaries by Bloomberg, Briefing, 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 for easy review 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 PnL statements alone. Further, most financial websites remove (delete) their archives after a few years to make room for new content. Therefore, I maintain my own archives of the news content so that I have it available for me when financial websites no longer archives their content.


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

4:15 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The financial sector (+1.2%) nudged the broader market into positive territory on Thursday as the bulls couldn't resist bank stocks in light of last week's dip. The three major U.S. averages settled with gains of 0.3% apiece while the small-cap Russell 2000 (+0.8%) outperformed.

In a day short on headlines, investors kept an eye on crude oil as the energy component moved back above the psychologically important $50.00 mark. WTI crude finished 1.7% higher at $50.30/bbl after Kuwait voiced support to extend OPEC/non-OPEC production cuts beyond June. In addition, Kuwaiti oil minister Essam al-Marzouq said that several other nations are in favor of the extension. However, despite crude oil's positive performance, the energy sector (+0.5%) struggled to stay ahead of the broader market.

In addition to the financials and energy sectors, the industrial group (+0.5%) also outperformed the broader market as its components settled higher across the board. Most of the remaining cyclical sectors closed the day with modest gains while the countercyclical groups finished mixed.

The rate-sensitive utilities sector (-0.7%) settled at the bottom of the leaderboard as selling pressure within the Treasury market left yields in positive territory. However, the pressure wasn't applied equally across the yield curve with the front end holding up a bit better than the back end; the 10-yr yield (2.41%) finished four basis points higher while the 2-yr yield (1.28%) added only one basis point.

Elsewhere on the defensive side of the market, the consumer staples (-0.2%) and health care (unch) groups finished with the utilities sector in the red while the telecom services space (+0.4%) closed in the green. Biotechnology names weighed on the health care sector, evidenced by the 0.4% downtick in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 293.39, -1.03).

On the corporate front, lululemon athletica (LULU 50.76, -15.54) plunged 23.4% after reporting worse than expected earnings and issuing disappointing guidance. The negative influence seeped into the broader athletic apparel market, leaving Nike (NKE 56.04, -0.64) and Under Armour (UAA 20.09, -0.53) with respective losses of 1.1% and 2.6%.

On the data front, investors received the third estimate of fourth quarter GDP and Initial Claims:

The third reading of fourth quarter GDP pointed to an expansion of 2.1%, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 2.0%. The third estimate of fourth quarter GDP Deflator came in at 2.0%, which is in line with the Briefing.com consensus.
The key takeaway from the report is that despite the upward revision, growth trends remains subdued amid soft business spending.
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 258,000 while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 245,000. Today's tally was below the unrevised prior week count of 261,000. As for continuing claims, they rose to 2.052 million from the revised count of 1.987 million (from 2.000 million).
The key takeaway from this report is that while claims have increased notably from this year's low of 223,000, they are still at encouraging levels, having held below 300,000 for 108 weeks in a row.

Tomorrow, investors will receive a slew of economic reports, including February Personal Income (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%), Personal Spending (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%), and PCE Price Index (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%) at 8:30 ET, March Chicago PMI (Briefing.com consensus 55.8) at 9:45 ET, and the final University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment reading (Briefing.com consensus 97.6) at 10:00 ET.

Nasdaq Composite +9.9% YTD
S&P 500 +5.8% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +4.9% YTD
Russell 2000 +1.9% YTD

3:35 pm: [BRIEFING.COM]

Tomorrow, Friday, March 31, the USDA will release two of its most market-moving reports of the year
Both will come out at noon EST
One is the annual Prospective Planting report
The other is the Quarterly Grain Stocks report
Natural gas futures slid lower today after the release of the weekly EIA storage data, which showed that there was a 43 Bcf withdrawal from U.S. inventory, leaving overall inventory at 2,049 Bcf
May natural gas closed today's floor trading session is now -1.2% at $3.19/MMBtu
WTI crude oil ran above $50/barrel today, getting a boost from headlines that that some OPEC/non-OPEC countries are supporting extending the OPEC oil cuts
At the end of today's session, May crude oil closed +2% at $50.30/barrel
Looking over at the metals...
Apr gold finished the day -0.7% at $1244.60/oz, while May silver closed -0.3% at $18.20/oz
May copper slipped one cent to $2.67/lb
Moving to ag futures
May corn closed the day unchanged at $3.58/bushel ahead of tomorrow's USDA reports
May wheat lost 1.2% to $4.20/bu and May soybeans fell 0.5% to $9.64/bu

3:00 pm:

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.3%) is on track to post its third win of the week going into the final stretch of action.

Crude oil wrapped up pit trade 1.7% higher at $50.30/bbl. The energy component made it back above the psychologically important $50.00 mark after Kuwait voiced its support to extend OPEC production cuts beyond June. Kuwait oil minister Essam al-Marzouq said that his nation was one of several that are in favor of pushing the supply cut end date further into the future. However, despite crude oil's positive performance, the energy sector (+0.4%) has struggled to stay ahead of the broader market.

ConocoPhillips (COP 49.45, +3.51) is the energy sector's best-performing component after the company announced that it will sell a significant portion of its Canadian assets to Cenovus Energy (CVE 11.45, -1.64). COP is expected to reduce its debt and increase stock buybacks with the proceeds.

2:30 pm:

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages hover near their recent levels with the Dow trading higher by 0.4%.

The consumer staples sector (-0.2%) has traded in negative territory for the vast majority of today's action. The group has succumbed to broad selling pressure with influential components like Procter & Gamble (PG 90.19, -0.41), Altria (MO 72.36, -0.60), Walgreens Boot Alliance (WBA 83.17, -0.61), and Mondelez International (MDLZ 43.31, -0.44) showing losses between 0.4% and 1.0%. For the week, the consumer staples group clings to a slim gain of 0.1%.

Only the rate-sensitive utilities sector (-0.8%) trades below the consumer staples space this afternoon as increased selling interest in the Treasury market has left yields in positive territory. The benchmark 10-yr yield, for instance, trades higher by four basis points at 2.41%.

Also of note, the U.S. Dollar Index (100.28, +0.50) trades at its best level in two weeks. The greenback has added 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively, against the euro (1.0692) and the Japanese yen (111.57).

2:00 pm:

[BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices trade in the neighborhood of their session highs this afternoon with the S&P 500 sporting a gain of 0.3%.

NVIDIA (NVDA 109.86, +2.53) has bounced off its 50-day moving average to advance 2.4% in today's session. The chipmaker's positive performance has caught on within the semiconductor industry as nearly all of the technology sector's (+0.2%) semiconductor components trade in the green. In addition, today's upbeat showing has pushed the PHLX Semiconductor Index higher by 0.6%.

Elsewhere in the tech group, large-cap names like Apple (AAPL 144.08, -0.04), Facebook (FB 142.50, -0.15), and Alphabet (GOOGL 849.29, -0.57) have taken a breather in today's session after stringing together a series of multiple advances. Meanwhile, Microsoft (MSFT 65.71, +0.24) is on track for its fifth consecutive win with a gain of 0.4%.

1:30 pm:

[BRIEFING.COM] The major U.S. indices are higher in afternoon trading, having recovered from some selling pressure in the back-half of last hour.

A look inside the Dow Jones Industrial Average shows that Goldman Sachs (GS 231.26, +2.81), UnitedHealth Group (165.32, +1.88), & Wal-Mart (WMT 71.49, +0.75) are outperforming. Goldman is leading the charge higher, helped by broad strength in financials, today's best performing sector.

Conversely, Nike (NKE 55.90, -0.78) is the worst-performing Dow component as shares slip lower in sympathy following earnings from peer lululemon (LULU 51.10, -15.20).

The DJIA is currently up 0.6% this week, but down 0.45% for March.

1:00 pm:

[BRIEFING.COM] The cash market climbed into positive territory shortly after today's opening bell, but gains have been held in check throughout the first half of Thursday's session with no major catalyst to persuade investors one way or the other. All three major U.S. averages hold gains around 0.1%.

The financials sector (+0.9%) has led today's modest advance as investors continue to buy last week's dip. The energy sector (+0.4%) has also shown relative strength with crude oil trading 1.4% higher at $50.18/bbl after Kuwait voiced its support to extend the OPEC/non-OPEC production cut agreement beyond June.

On the downside, the rate-sensitive utilities group (-1.0%) holds the bottom spot on the day's leaderboard by a wide margin as selling pressure within the Treasury market has left longer-dated yields in the green. The yield curve is notably steeper with the benchmark 10-yr yield (2.41%) up three basis points while the 2-yr yield (1.27%) hovers at its unchanged mark

The consumer discretionary (-0.1%) and consumer staples (-0.2%) sectors also trade lower as retailers weigh; the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 42.41, -0.13) is down 0.3%. lululemon athletica (LULU 51.02, -15.27) put the industry in a tight spot following its latest earnings report, which paired worse than expected earnings with disappointing guidance. LULU shares have plunged 23.0% in the wake of the report, placing the stock at its lowest level since December 2015.

Like retail, the biotech industry trades lower, evidenced by the 0.4% decrease in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 293.27, -1.15). Meanwhile, the health care sector trades flat, relatively in line with the broader market. The remaining groups--industrials, materials, telecom services, and real estate--hold modest gains, no more than 0.3%.

On the data front, investors received the third estimate of fourth quarter GDP and Initial Claims:

The third reading of fourth quarter GDP pointed to an expansion of 2.1%, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 2.0%. The third estimate of fourth quarter GDP Deflator came in at 2.0%, which is in line with the Briefing.com consensus.
The key takeaway from the report is that despite the upward revision, growth trends remains subdued amid soft business spending.
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 258,000 while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 245,000. Today's tally was below the unrevised prior week count of 261,000. As for continuing claims, they rose to 2.052 million from the revised count of 1.987 million (from 2.000 million).
The key takeaway from this report is that while claims have increased notably from this year's low of 223,000, they are still at encouraging levels, having held below 300,000 for 108 weeks in a row.

12:30 pm:

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 continues to hover around 0.2% above its unchanged mark.

The industrial sector (+0.4%) has outpaced the benchmark index in today's session as two of its top components by market cap--General Electric (GE 29.91, +0.23) and Union Pacific (UNP 106.99, +1.41)--hold solid gains of 0.8% and 1.4%, respectively. GE is on track for its third consecutive advance while UNP is poised to post its fifth.

Union Pacific is also a big component of the Dow Jones Transportation Average with only FedEx (FDX 192.88, +1.96) and Norfolk Southern (NSC 114.59, +1.38) having more influence over the price-weighted average. The two names show solid gains of 1.0% and 1.3%, respectively, while the DJTA trades higher by 0.7%.

12:00 pm:

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages ticked down from their session highs in recent action after House Speaker Ryan reiterated that tax reform will be more difficult without health care reform in his weekly press conference. The S&P 500 now shows a gain of 0.2%.

Retailers have struggled to keep up with the broader market in today's session. lululemon athletica (LULU 51.29, -15.01) put the industry in a tight spot following its latest earnings report, which paired worse than expected earnings with disappointing guidance. LULU shares have plunged 22.7% in the wake of the report, placing the stock at its lowest level since December 2015.

The SPDR S&P 500 Retail ETF (XRT 42.44, -0.10) trades 0.2% below its flat line while the consumer discretionary sector (unch) trades behind the broader market. However, for the week, the XRT still holds a gain of 3.2%, most of which was acquired in yesterday's session after internet retailer Amazon (AMZN 871.87, -2.44) climbed to a fresh record high.

11:30 am:

[BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices continue to hover at their recent levels with the Dow sporting a gain of 0.4%.

Biotech names have been under pressure this morning after putting together a solid performance on Wednesday. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 293.56, -0.86) trades lower by 0.3% with names like Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN 388.27, -5.87) and Mylan (MYL 40.07, -0.27) showing respective losses of 1.3% and 0.7%. Meanwhile, the health care group trades behind the broader market with a slim gain of 0.1%.

For the week, the IBB remains solidly higher, up 1.3%, as biotech investors cheer the demise of the American Health Care Act. The AHCA was kicked to the curb last Friday after failing to gather enough support among the more conservative House Republicans. Without the bill, President Trump's pledge to bring down drug prices holds less weight.

11:00 am:

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market has moved into positive territory after opening Thursday's session flat. The S&P 500 currently holds a gain of 0.3%.

The heavily-weighted financial sector (+0.9%) has set the positive tone this morning as investors continue to buy last week's dip. Banks trade higher across the board with Bank of America (BAC, 23.62, +0.26), Citigroup (C 60.22, +0.83), and Goldman Sachs (GS 231.54, +3.09) showing relative strength. The three names currently hold gains between 1.2% and 1.5%.

The financial group currently sits higher by 1.4% for the week, but it still has a ways to go in order to reclaim last week's decline of 3.8%. Financials led the stock market's post-election rally, gaining 26.0% from November 8 to January 3. However, the space sits 5.2% below that mark after succumbing to some profit-taking over the last few months.

10:45 am: [BRIEFING.COM]

Natural gas futures following the release of the weekly EIA storage data, which showed that there was a 43 Bcf withdrawal from U.S. inventory, leaving overall inventory at 2,049 Bcf
May natural gas is now -0.5% at $3.21/MMBtu
WTI crude oil ran above $50/barrel today, getting a boost from headlines that that some OPEC/non-OPEC countries are supporting extending the OPEC oil cuts
May crude oil is now +1.1% at $50.03/barrel
Looking over at metals...
Apr gold is curretnly -0.4% at $1249.30/ox, while May silver is +0.2% at $18.28/oz
May copper +0.3% at $2.69/lb

9:55 am:

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages trade just a tick above their flat lines in early action.

Sector movement has been relatively modest this morning as most groups trade within 0.3% of their respective flat lines. The lightly-weighted utilities and real estate spaces are an exception, showing losses of 0.6% apiece.

The financials (+0.3%) and energy (+0.3%) sectors have demonstrated relative strength in the early going with energy's strength stemming from crude oil's advance. The energy component trades 0.7% higher at $49.83/bbl following reports that some OPEC countries are in favor of extending their production cut agreement beyond June.

9:45 am:

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 opens Thursday's session flat.

The energy sector (+0.3%) holds the early lead as crude oil trades 0.6% higher at $49.78/bbl. Other cyclical sectors like financials (+0.1%), industrials (+0.1%), and materials (unch) also outperform, clinging to slim gains.

On the flip side, the utilities (-0.5%) and real estate (-0.5%) sectors are the worst performing spaces while the health care (-0.2%), consumer staples (-0.2%), and telecom services (-0.2%) groups also trade in the red.

9:10 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -2.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: flat.

Yesterday's cautious tone has carried over into Thursday morning as equity futures point to a relatively flat open on Wall Street. The S&P 500 futures trade two points below fair value.

The third reading of fourth quarter GDP came in slightly better than expected, pointing to an expansion of 2.1% (Briefing.com consensus 2.0%). Meanwhile, the third estimate of fourth quarter GDP Deflator came in at 2.0%, which is in line with the Briefing.com consensus.

Conversely, the latest weekly initial jobless claims report disappointed. The reading showed that claims totaled 258,000 while the Briefing.com consensus expected the tally to hit 245,000. As for continuing claims, they rose to 2.052 million from the revised count of 1.987 million (from 2.000 million).

Equity futures ticked up slightly following the economic releases, but U.S. Treasuries moved a little bit lower. The benchmark 10-yr yield trades one basis point above its flat line at 2.39%.

On the corporate front, ConocoPhillips (COP 49.55, +3.60) has jumped 7.8% in pre-market trade after the company announced that it will sell a significant portion of its Canadian assets to Cenovus Energy (CVE 12.06, -1.02). COP is expected to reduce its debt and increase stock buybacks with the proceeds.

On the flip side, lululemon athletica (LULU 52.24, -14.06) has plunged 21.3% after missing earnings estimates and issuing disappointing guidance. The earnings report has had a ripple effect within the athletic apparel industry as Nike (NKE 56.35, -0.33) and Under Armour (UAA 20.30, -0.32) trade lower by 0.6% and 1.6%, respectively.

Investors will not receive any more economic data on Thursday, but there are several Fed officials scheduled to speak, including Cleveland Fed President Mester (non-FOMC voter), Dallas Fed President Kaplan (FOMC voter), San Francisco Fed President Williams (non-FOMC voter), and New York Fed President Dudley (FOMC voter).

8:50 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -1.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +1.40.

The S&P 500 futures trade one point below fair value.

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended Thursday on a mixed note with markets in China showing relative weakness as the People's Bank of China remained on the sidelines, skipping reverse repurchase operations for the fifth consecutive day. Also in China, press reports indicate Li Keqiang is expected to win another term as Premier.

In economic data:
Australia's February HIA New Home Sales +0.2% month-over-month (last -2.2%)
Hong Kong's February Retail Sales -5.7% year-over-year (last -0.9%)

---Equity Markets---

Japan's Nikkei lost 0.8%. Basic materials names underperformed with Unitika, Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, and Nippon Paper Industries falling between 2.6% and 6.1%. Consumer stocks like Familymart, Rakuten, Kikkoman, J Front Retailing, and Japan Tobacco posted losses between 1.3% and 2.9%. On the upside, Toshiba remained volatile, jumping 3.9%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended lower by 0.4% with property names and financials showing weakness. China Overseas, China Resources Land, China Construction Bank, Bank of China, China Life Insurance, and Cheung Kong Property Holdings posted losses between 0.6% and 1.6%. On the upside, China Mengniu Dairy climbed 4.9%.
China's Shanghai Composite lost 1.0%. Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing, Shanghai Sanmao Enterprise, Shenghe Resources Holding, Ningbo Zhongbai, and Fujian Cement settled with losses between 6.6% and 8.6%.
India's Sensex rose 0.4%, returning to this year's high. Adani Ports jumped 5.8% while Bharti Airtel, GAIL, Reliance Industries, Wipro, and Hero MotoCorp added between 0.3% and 1.7%. On the downside, Oil & Natural Gas and Coal India both lost near 1.3%.

Major European indices trade in the neighborhood of their unchanged marks. European Central Bank member Peter Praet said that while unconventional policies have been effective in enhancing the central bank's ability to deliver on its mandate in the medium-term, they cannot compensate for failures in other policy areas. Elsewhere, Eurogroup Chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said there is still no staff-level agreement on the Greek bailout review while the Bank of Spain said it expects inflation to slow throughout 2017 and fall below 1.5% in 2018.

In economic data:
Eurozone March Business and Consumer Survey 107.9 (expected 108.3; last 108.0)
Spain's March CPI 0.0% month-over-month (expected 0.2%; last -0.4%); +2.3% year-over-year (consensus 2.6%; last 3.0%)
Swiss March KOF Leading Indicators 107.6 (expected 106.0; previous 106.9)

---Equity Markets---

UK's FTSE is down 0.2%. Consumer stocks like Marks & Spencer, Associated British Foods, and Unilever show losses between 1.0% and 1.9%. Financials like Prudential, Old Mutual, RBS, Provident Financial, HSBC, and Barclays are down between 0.2% and 1.5%.
France's CAC is higher by 0.1%. Financials BNP Paribas and Societe Generale are both down near 1.0% while Credit Agricole has given up 0.7%. Exporters are mixed with Renault down 0.3% while Peugeot has added 0.1%. On the upside, Valeo has climbed 2.0% while Veolia Environnement is up 1.6%.
Germany's DAX also trades higher by 0.1%. Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank hold respective losses of 1.9% and 1.8% while Merck, Continental, and BASF outperform with gains between 0.7% and 1.3%.

8:33 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -2.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: flat.

The S&P 500 futures trade two points below fair value.

Just in, the latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 258,000 while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 245,000. Today's tally was in line with the unrevised prior week count of 258,000. As for continuing claims, they rose to 2.052 million from the revised count of 1.987 million (from 2.000 million).

Separately, the third reading of fourth quarter GDP pointed to an expansion of 2.1%, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 2.0%. The third estimate of fourth quarter GDP Deflator came in at 2.0%, which is in line with the Briefing.com consensus.

7:53 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -2.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +0.40.

Investors are gearing up for another flat open this morning after the major averages finished near their unchanged marks on Wednesday. The S&P 500 futures trade two points below fair value.

Crude oil is taking a breather this morning after yesterday's 2.2% advance, which was in response to a bullish EIA inventory report. The energy component trades down 0.1% at $49.45/bbl.

In the Treasury market, U.S. sovereign debt trades flat with the benchmark 10-yr yield unchanged at 2.38%. Several Fed officials are scheduled to make statements today, including Cleveland Fed President Mester (non-FOMC voter), Dallas Fed President Kaplan (FOMC voter), San Francisco Fed President Williams (non-FOMC voter), and New York Fed President Dudley (FOMC voter).

Investors will receive two economic reports today, including the third estimate of fourth quarter GDP (Briefing.com consensus 2.0%) and Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 245,000). Both reports will cross the wires at 8:30 ET.

In U.S. corporate news:

ConocoPhillips (COP 48.90, +2.95): +6.4% after announcing that it will sell a significant portion of its Canadian assets to Cenovus Energy (CVE 11.89, -1.19). COP is expected to reduce its debt and increase stock buybacks with the proceeds.
lululemon athletica (LULU 53.80, -12.50): -18.9% after missing earnings estimates and issuing disappointing guidance.

Reviewing overnight developments:

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended Thursday mostly lower. Japan's Nikkei -0.8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.4%, China's Shanghai Composite -1.0%, India's Sensex +0.4%.
In economic data:
Australia's February HIA New Home Sales +0.2% month-over-month (last -2.2%)
Hong Kong's February Retail Sales -5.7% year-over-year (last -0.9%)
In news:
The People's Bank of China skipped reverse repurchase operations for the fifth consecutive day.
Also in China, press reports indicate Li Keqiang is expected to win another term as Premier.

Major European indices trade in the red, but losses have been contained to no more than 0.5% for the time being. UK's FTSE -0.3%, France's CAC -0.1%, Germany's DAX unch.
In economic data:
Eurozone March Business and Consumer Survey 107.9 (expected 108.3; last 108.0)
Spain's March CPI 0.0% month-over-month (expected 0.2%; last -0.4%); +2.3% year-over-year (consensus 2.6%; last 3.0%)
Swiss March KOF Leading Indicators 107.6 (expected 106.0; previous 106.9)
In news:
European Central Bank member Peter Praet said that while unconventional policies have been effective in enhancing the central bank's ability to deliver on its mandate in the medium-term, they cannot compensate for failures in other policy areas.
Eurogroup Chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said there is still no staff-level agreement on the Greek bailout review while the Bank of Spain said it expects inflation to slow throughout 2017 and fall below 1.5% in 2018.

5:57 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -2.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +1.40.

5:57 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Nikkei...19063...-154.30...-0.80%. Hang Seng...24301...-91.00...-0.40%.

5:57 am: [BRIEFING.COM] FTSE...7370.29...-3.40...-0.10%. DAX...7370.29...-3.40...-0.10%.

Special thanks to Bloomberg, Briefing, Reuters and Yahoo! Finance for their market summaries. Also, thank you for the review of TheStrategyLab performance record...hopefully the links will be useful for you.

Best Regards,
M.A. Perry
TheStrategyLab Price Action Trading
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body/bar analysis)
@ http://twitter.com/wrbtrader @ http://stocktwits.com/wrbtrader

http://www.thestrategylab.com
Phone: +1 708 572-4885
TheStrategyLab Business Hours: 8am - 5pm est (Mon - Fri)
Skype Messenger: kebec2002
wrbanalysis@gmail.com