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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=73&t=492.



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.

@ 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: +14.70 points in the ICE Russell 2000 Emini TF ($TF_F) Futures

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Stocks Rise On Consumer Hopes
By Alexandra Twin, senior writer
April 8, 2010: 6:24 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks gained Thursday as upbeat sales reports from the nation's retailers helped provide optimism about the economic outlook, taking the edge off worries about Greece and other euro zone debt issues.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added 30 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 index (SPX) gained 4 points or 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) gained 6 points, or 0.2%, and matched Tuesday's 18-month high.

Stocks fell in the morning, but managed to erase those losses and edge higher in the afternoon, led by financial shares including American Express (AXP, Fortune 500), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) and Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500). The KBW Bank (BKX) index added 1.4%. Retail shares gained as well.

Stocks slipped Wednesday after General Motors' huge loss, but the market was also vulnerable after finishing at 18-month highs Tuesday.

The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 have now risen in six of the last seven weeks as investors have bet that continued low interest rates, some stability in the job market and a pickup in the economy will help sustain a stock advance.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Dow is flat for the week, the Nasdaq and the S&P are both up.

Retail: A number of chain stores reported strong March sales thanks in part to the early Easter holiday and signs of improvement in the job market.

Sales at stores open a year or more, a retail metric known as same-store sales, rose 9.1% in March versus a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters. It was the biggest monthly gain since Thomson began keeping records in 2000, and surpassed the company's forecast for a gain of 6.3%.

Among the standouts, women's apparel retailer The Limited (LTD, Fortune 500) said sales rose 15% at stores open a year or more versus forecasts for a rise of 6.8%.

Discounter TJX (TJX, Fortune 500) said sales at stores open a year or more rose 12% in the month. As a result, the retailer raised its current quarter profit outlook.

But some companies warned that a strong March will chip away at April sales. Kohl's (KSS, Fortune 500) said its strong 22.5% jump in March will be followed by a decline in April.
10 highest-paid CEOs

Jobs: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment rose to 460,000 last week from a revised 442,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday morning. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected 435,000 claims, on average.

Continuing claims, a measure of those who have been receiving benefits for a week or more, fell to 4,550,000 from 4,681,000 the previous week. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought continuing claims would fall to 4,630,000.
0:00 /:57US Airways, United to merge?

Airlines: UAL' (UAUA, Fortune 500)s United Airlines and US Airways (LCC, Fortune 500) are reportedly talking about a merger again, according to several published reports. The two companies discussed teaming up previously in the last decade. UAL shares gained 7% and US Airways shares gained 12%. Other airlines rose as well.

World markets: In overseas trading, European markets slumped as Greece's borrowing costs hit a record high on worries about the country defaulting. Asian markets ended lower.

Bonds: Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.90% from 3.86% late Wednesday. The 10-year had risen as high as 4% Monday, an 18-month high. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Treasury sold $13 billion in 30-year bonds in the afternoon, in the last of four auctions this week worth about $82 billion.

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

COMEX gold for June delivery fell 10 cents to settle at $1,152.90 per ounce.

U.S. light crude oil for May delivery fell 46 cents to settle at $85.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Market breadth was mixed. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers on volume of 1.05 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners on volume of 2.35 billion shares.



Yahoo! Finance

4:30 pm : Leadership from the financial sector helped the stock market fight off back-to-back losses to book a solid gain. A downturn by the dollar helped, too.

The S&P 500 was down as much as 0.6% in the first few minutes of trade. Participants extended the prior session's selling effort as concerns about Greece's borrowing ability were rekindled. In fact, the cost to insure Greece's bonds climbed to a record high. That development weakened the euro and drove the dollar modestly higher.

The mood among early morning participants worsened with a worse-than-expected initial jobless claims count. Initial claims fell 18,000 to 460,000 for the week ended Apr. 3. The less-widely watched continuing claims count fell 131,000 to a better-than-expected 4.55 million, though.

Pressure against stocks started to subside after European Central Bank President Trichet followed up the ECB's decision to leave their target lending rate unchanged at 1.00%, as expected, with the comment that no available information suggests Greece will default. The euro rallied and the dollar drifted into the red in response.

While the dollar's decline removed a formidable headwind from the stock market, it was strength in the financial sector that provided the leadership necessary to take the broader market on an upward march. The financial sector swung from a 0.7% loss to a 0.8% gain. Consumer finance stocks (+3.0%) and investment banks and brokerages (+1.7%) were the best performers in the sector.

Though financials offered the most support to the broader market, some of this session's strongest gains came from the consumer discretionary sector, which finished 1.0% higher. A raft of strong same-store sales results and a handful of upside earnings forecasts enabled retailers to outperform for the entire session and settle with a 1.3% gain. Meanwhile, better-than-expected February revenue from Nevada's Gaming Control Board sent shares of casinos and gaming stocks in the S&P 500 to a 4.3% gain.

Airline stocks traded with steady strength as well. News that US Airways (LCC 7.55, +0.73) and UAL Corp. (UAUA 20.23, +1.28) might merge carried the Amex Airline Index to a 3.3% gain, its best move by percent in more than one month.

Though there were pockets of considerable strength and the broader market showed resilience on Thursday, many market pundits have suggested that stocks are near-term overbought with the S&P 500 just 0.5% below its 52-week high and new highs becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.

Participants don't yet appear to be taking cover in Treasuries, however. Treasuries succumbed to a mild fit of selling as results from a $13 billion auction of 30-year Bonds failed to impress fixed income investors. The auction drew a yield of 4.77%, which was generally in step with what had been expected, but the bid-to-cover of 2.73 was weaker than expected. At almost 37%, the indirect bid was higher than expected, though.

Advancing Sectors: Consumer Discretionary (+1.0%), Telecom (+0.9%), Financials (+0.8%), Energy (+0.6%), Materials (+0.3%), Industrials (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: Health Care (-0.2%), Utilities (-0.6%)
Unchanged: Consumer Staples, Tech DJ30 +29.55 NASDAQ +5.65 NQ100 +0.2% R2K +0.0% SP400 -0.2% SP500 +3.99 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1360/2.33 bln/1291 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1559/1.05 bln/1440

3:30 pm : Commodities were pressured for the entire session, which culminated with a 0.8% loss for the CRB Commodity Index.

Gold saw its recent streak of gains come to an end as it fell fractionally to close at $1152.90 per ounce. Silver prices settled 0.4% lower at $17.13 per ounce.

Oil prices were pushed to a 0.6% loss as they settled at $85.39 per barrel. Natural gas prices fell a much sharper 2.7% to close pit trade at $3.91 per MMBtu following news of a larger-than-expected build in weekly inventory. DJ30 +42.32 NASDAQ +8.12 SP500 +5.18 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1398/1.94 bln/1249 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1492/755 mln/1481

3:00 pm : Stocks have slowly made their way up to a fresh session high after they had been confined to a narrow trading range. The move has been relatively broad-based, but the health care (-0.1%) and utilities (-0.5%) sectors are still in negative territory -- all 10 sectors had actually been down in the opening minutes of trade.

Even though many of the major sectors have made their way to higher ground, advancers and declining issues in the S&P 500 are still in near perfect balance. However, strength in the financial sector, which is only behind tech in terms of market weight, has provided a key source of strength that has lifted the stock market's needle. Financials are up 1.0%, collectively. DJ30 +44.44 NASDAQ +8.77 SP500 +5.65 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1424/1.80 bln/1189 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1533/695 mln/1419

2:30 pm : The stock market has entered into a rather narrow trading range, which has made for some rather lackluster action this afternoon. Still, stocks are well above where they started the session. The bounce has provided market watchers with evidence that many are still interested in adding to their portfolios, even though calls have been made that the stock market is overbought in the near term. DJ30 +38.92 NASDAQ +6.98 SP500 +4.57 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1365/1.67 bln/1240 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1467/638 mln/1489

2:00 pm : Shares of Schnitzer Steel (SCHN 55.20, +0.78) are up solidly on better-than-expected earnings, but the stock hasn't offered much support for the rest of the steel space, which is down a collective 0.8%. Primary laggards in the group include U.S. Steel (X 65.73, -1.52) and AK Steel (AKS 23.23, -0.87); each is also among the weaker issues within the broader materials sector, which recently slipped back into the red to trade with a fractional loss.

Monsanto (MON 69.03, +0.94) has been a key source of support for the materials sector, however. The stock has spent almost this entire session in higher ground as it rebounds from its 2.4% loss in the prior session, ahead of which Monsanto reported earnings that missed the consensus. DJ30 +35.37 NASDAQ +3.27 SP500 +3.04 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1234/1.55 bln/1367 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1332/590 mln/1607

1:30 pm : The S&P 500 has paused at the 1185 line, but it continues to sport a small, broad-based gain. Of its major sectors, only health care (-0.2%) and utilities (-0.7%) remain in the red.

Pressure has resumed against Treasuries after they had trimmed their losses in the minutes that followed results from a $13 billion auction of 30-year Bonds. The auction drew a yield of 4.77%, which was generally in step with what had been expected, but the bid-to-cover of 2.73 was weaker than expected. At almost 37%, the indirect bid was higher than expected, though. DJ30 +33.70 NASDAQ +5.82 SP500 +3.69 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1235/1.44 bln/1356 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1352/539 mln/1590

1:00 pm : A downturn by the dollar and leadership from the financial sector have helped the stock market recover from a fit of widespread weakness that sent stocks to a weekly low in the early going.

Sellers handed stocks their worst loss in more than one month in the prior session, but pressure persisted this morning. The slide was extended amid news of a worse-than-expected weekly jobless claims count and losses in overseas markets, particularly those in Europe. Europe's bourses were undercut by continued concerns about Greece's borrowing ability weighed on the euro. Those concerns were partly quelled when European Central Bank President Trichet stated that no information available to him suggests that Greece will default.

A subsequent bounce by the euro upended the Dollar Index, which now trades with a slight loss. The dollar's downturn has removed a primary headwind this session.

The broader market has also been helped by the financial sector which was down roughly 1% in the first few minutes of trade, but has since rallied to a 0.6% gain. Investment banks and brokerages continue to exhibit exceptional strength.

Energy has also offered support. The sector is up 0.3% after it was down more than 1% in the early going. Oil prices haven't made much of a move, though; contracts currently price crude oil at $85.50 per barrel, down 0.5%.

Shares of airlines have ascended to a sharp 3.4% gain. Word that US Airways (LCC 7.72, +0.90) and UAL Corp. (UAUA 20.71, +1.76) might merge has been the underpinning factor in the industry's strength this session.

Retailers are also outperforming. As a group they are up 1.2%, thanks to a raft of better-than-expected same-store sales numbers for March and a few upside forecasts.

Coming up at any minute are results from an auction of 30-year Treasuries. Treasuries had started the session in quiet fashion but started to fall slightly out of favor as the stock market made its move higher. DJ30 +28.79 NASDAQ +6.03 SP500 +2.93 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1189/1.32 bln/1361 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1310/489 mln/1627

12:30 pm : Stocks continue to climb and recently put in new session highs. The advance comes without any major headline, but a weakened dollar and resilience among financials have provided positive catalysts.

Though the three major indices are now in higher ground, small-caps and mid-caps have yet to match the move. Instead, small-caps in the Russell 2000 are down 0.2%, while mid-caps in the S&P 400 are down 0.4%. Mid-caps also underperformed in the previous session, when they dropped 0.7%. DJ30 +13.90 NASDAQ +2.97 SP500 +1.31 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1092/1.18 bln/1440 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1221/445 mln/1693

12:00 pm : The stock market continues to make its way higher and is now threatening to push into positive territory. The charge has been led by financials, which are now up 0.3% after they were down roughly 1% at their session low.

Energy has been a strong source of support, as well. The sector had been down in excess of 1% in the early going, but has since rallied to a 0.1% gain. Energy's reversal comes even though oil prices remain in negative territory -- contracts for crude currently price oil at $85.50 per barrel, down 0.5%. DJ30 +0.90 NASDAQ -2.99 SP500 -0.15 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 990/1.05 bln/1528 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1136/390 mln/1759

11:30 am : Financials have made their way into higher ground. The sector is up fractionally amid strength in investment banks and brokerages, which are currently up 0.9% after a 1.8% gain in the prior session. This is actually the fourth straight session that the group has traded higher.

Telecom stocks have rebounded from an outsized loss in the previous session. The sector dropped more than 2% in trade on Wednesday, but it is now up 0.4%, which is second only to the consumer discretionary sector (+0.5%).

Treasuries have had a rather quiet morning, despite widespread weakness in the early going and lingering losses in more recent action. The benchmark 10-year Note has oscillated along the unchanged line; its yield remains near 3.86% after strong buying on the back of strong auction results in the previous session drove the yield downward. Fixed income investors get their hands on the results from an auction of 30-year Treasuries at 1:00 PM ET. DJ30 -26.38 NASDAQ -8.06 SP500 -2.99 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 884/928 mln/1615 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 942/340 mln/1922

11:00 am : The Dollar Index has dropped into negative territory so that it now trades at a fresh session low with a 0.1% loss. The greenback's pullback has helped to relieve some of the selling pressure this morning. Stocks are now at their best levels of the morning, though still in negative territory.

Many retailers continue to drive the consumer discretionary sector higher -- it is now up 0.6%. While several reported strong monthly same-store sales, Kohl's (KSS 56.88, -0.26), Target (TGT 55.42, +1.41), JC Penney (JCP 31.83, -0.96), and Aeropostale (ARO 30.69, +1.36) went one step further by issuing upside earnings forecasts. However, lingering weakness in the broader market has left that quartet to trade in mixed fashion. Such has also been the case with the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 42.18, -0.06). DJ30 -16.70 NASDAQ -6.64 SP500 -2.00 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 831/800 mln/1614 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 927/290 mln/1907

10:30 am : The US Dollar Index has moved back down near the unchanged line, which has provided some price support to commodities.

May natural gas has traded in negative territory for the majority of today's session. Ahead of weekly inventory data, the energy component was trading 1.3% lower at $3.97 per MMBtu. Following the data, which showed a build of 31 bcf versus consensus of a build of 29 bcf, natural gas dropped to new morning lows of $3.86 per MMBtu, now off 13.1 cents at $3.89.

May crude oil has been in the red all session. Session lows of $84.38 per barrel were hit in recent trade, but crude quickly reversed, helped by weakness in the dollar index, and has since recovered a portion of its losses. Currently, crude is 0.8% lower at $85.21 per barrel.

Precious metals have also been in negative territory all session, primarily due to strength in the dollar index. June gold and May silver hit lows this morning at $1144.40 per ounce and $17.93 per ounce, respectively. In current action, gold is 0.3% lower at $1149.90 per ounce, while silver is 1% lower at $18.01 per ounce. DJ30 -31.74 NASDAQ -11.33 SP500 -4.12 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 613/572.8 mln/1750 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 655/207.2 mln/2110

10:00 am : Selling pressure has sent volatility sharply higher this morning. In turn, the Volatility Index is up 6.9% in its sharpest jump in two weeks.

Meanwhile, strength in the dollar has dwindled. The buck is now up fractionally against competing currencies. Its pullback comes primarily as a result of renewed support for the euro, which was pressured earlier by renewed concerns about the ability of Greece to borrow funds, but the euro has been on the mend since European Central Bank President Trichet stated that no information available to him suggests that Greece will default.

Advancing Sectors: Consumer Discretionary (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Energy (-0.8%), Utilities (-0.7%), Materials (-0.7%), Financials (-0.6%), Industrials (-0.6%), Tech (-0.6%), Health Care (-0.4%), Consumer Staples (-0.3%), Telecom (-0.1%) DJ30 -46.86 NASDAQ -15.37 SP500 -6.88 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 572/380 mln/1739 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 520/142 mln/2177

09:45 am : Weakness is widespread in the first few minutes of trade. The broad-based losses have dropped the stock market to its lowest level of the week. Despite such an ominous development, stocks are only down 0.2% week-to-date.

Thanks to a large batch of stronger-than-expected monthly sales results, retailers are faring relatively well this morning. In fact, the S&P 500 Retail Index is up 0.3% at the moment. That has helped to limit the consumer discretionary sector's slide to just 0.1%.

Airlines are also strong this morning. Word of a possible merger in the space has the Amex Airline Index up 3.1%. That index is now up 14% year-to-date. DJ30 -44.74 NASDAQ -16.09 SP500 -6.59 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 513/235 mln/1722 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 466/95 mln/2160

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -3.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -4.50. Selling pressure in the prior session has extended into this morning's premarket trade as overseas markets move lower. Losses are especially pronounced in Europe, where rekindled concerns regarding Greece's borrowing ability have weighed on the euro and, in turn, provided a slight lift to the dollar. A disappointing initial jobless claims count has intensified morning headwinds, but a flurry of upbeat monthly retail sales figures has provided a dose of positive news. Word that US Airways (LCC) and UAL Corp. (UAUA) might merge has also helped soften the selling effort this morning. Still, the stock market looks like it is headed for a lower start. A key item on the calendar is the auction of 30-year Treasuries; its results will be released at 1:00 PM ET. The auction of 10-year Treasuries in the prior session proved surprisingly strong, so it could be increasingly difficult for the auction to exceed expectations this time around.

09:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -5.10. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -6.80. U.S. stock futures remain under pressure. Weakness abroad hasn't helped the mood among premarket participants. Europe's major bourses are down sharply with broad-based losses amid rekindled concerns regarding borrowing in Greece -- according to reports, the spread on Greek banks' credit default swaps (CDS) has widened. The news has put pressure on the euro, but the continent's chief currency has pared losses amid recent comments from European Central Bank President Trichet that default is not an issue for Greece, given all the information available to Trichet. The comments come after the ECB opted to leave their target interest rate unchanged at 1.00%, as expected. The decision came amid news that eurozone retail sales fell 0.6% in February. They were expected to be flat. The Bank of England also left unchanged its lending rate, which stands at 0.50%, as expected. Britain's FTSE is currently down 1.2%. Weakness is pronounced among in miners and banks. In Germany, the DAX is down 1.2%. Its banks are also weak. German industrial production disappointed when it was learned that it stagnated in the most recent month measured. France's CAC is in the worst shape. It is currently down 1.7%. Financial shares are also very weak. In Asia, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.5%, while Japan's Nikkei closed 1.1% lower. Exporters were generally weak. Japan's core private sector machinery orders fell 5.4% in February, but an increase had been expected. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng shed 0.3%. Property stocks were knocked lower. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite closed 0.9% lower.

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -5.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -5.00. Broader market stock futures recently slipped to fresh morning lows with the release of the latest weekly jobless claims tally. Initial jobless claims for the week ended Apr. 3 totaled 460,000, which is worse than the 435,000 initial claims that had been expected. It also marks an increase of 18,000 claims from the prior week. The count for continuing claims hit 4.55 million, which is not quite as bad as the 4.63 million claims that had been widely forecast. Continuing claims fell by 131,000 from the prior week.

Aside from some periodic speeches from Fed members, there is no more economic data due for release today.

08:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -3.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -3.80. Selling pressure from the prior session has carried over into premarket trade this morning. Part of the weakness comes as a result of continued strength in the dollar, which is up 0.2% against a basket of foreign currencies. According to New York Times, China is close to revising its currency policy. However, the euro is a primary laggard among foreign currencies. Its weakness comes amid revived concern about Greece's borrowing ability and news that the European Central Bank left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 1.00%, as expected. The Bank of England left its benchmark rate unchanged at 0.50%, as expected.

Europe's major bourses are down sharply with broad-based losses, which has also cast a pall over the mood this morning.

The latest raft of monthly retail sales results have provided a positive morsel of news in recent minutes. Of the companies to recently announce, Macy's (M), Target (TGT), and Gap (GPS) posted double-digit increases in comparable store sales for March.

In other corporate news, The New York Times reported that UAL Corp (UAUA) and US Airways (LCC) are in talks to merge. The news has spurred interest in airline shares.

Coming up at the bottom of the hour is the latest weekly jobless claims count. Another round of Treasury auction results is scheduled for 1:00 PM ET.

06:30 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -3.60. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -4.50.

06:30 am : Nikkei...11168.20...-124.60...-1.10%. Hang Seng...21867.04...-61.70...-0.30%.

06:30 am : FTSE...5696.34...-65.70...-1.10%. DAX...6146.58...-75.70...-1.20%.

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

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

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