TheStrategyLab.com Price Action Trading Support Forum

Trade Results of M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body/bar analysis)
Price Action Trading (no technical indicators)
Phone: +1 708 572-4885
Free Chat Room: http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewforum.php?f=164
Business Hours: 8am - 5pm est (Mon - Fri)
questions@thestrategylab.com (24/7)
http://twitter.com/wrbtrader (24/7)


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

Price Action Trade Performance for Today: Emini TF ($TF_F) futures @ $1,550.00 dollars or +15.50 points, Emini ES ($ES_F) futures @ $625.00 dollars or +12.50 points, Light Crude Oil CL ($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 @ $2,175.00 dollars

Russell 2000 Emini TF Futures: 1 tick or 0.10 = $10.00 dollars and there's more contract information @ The ICE
S&P 500 Emini ES Futures: 1 tick or 0.25 = $12.50 dollars and there's more contract information @ CMEGroup
Light Crude Oil CL (WTI) Futures: 1 tick or 0.01 = $10.00 dollars and there's more contract information @ CMEGroup
Gold GC Futures: 1 tick or 0.10 = $10.00 dollars and there's more contract information @ CMEGroup
EuroFX 6E Futures: 1 tick or 0.0001 = $12.50 dollars and there's more contract information @ CMEGroup

In addition, all of my trades were posted real-time in the chat room. You can read today's chat room logs for details about each one of my trades via price action trading from entry to exit (e.g. time, price, contract size) along with price action commentary as the trade traversed to its completion...all archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=128&t=1755

Also, posted below are direct links to information about my price action trade methodology and trading plan (there's a difference between the two) that enables me to identify key trading areas in the price action that represent changes in supply/demand and volatility along with being able to exploit these changes via WRB Analysis (wide range body/bar analysis). I'm primarily a day trader because it suits my personal lifestyle but I do occasionally swing trade and position trade. Simply, my trade method is applicable for position trading, swing trading and day trading.

##TheStrategyLab Chat Room is free. Members and I use the chat room to post WRB Analysis commentary, real-time trades and to post anything else related to trading. The chat room helps me tremendously in my own trading because I use it to document (journal) my thought process from trade to trade so that I can easily review at a later date my thoughts as I interacted with the markets...info I can not get from my broker statements. Also, this is not a signal calling chat room where a head trader tells you when to buy or sell. If you join the chat room and then you do not ask any questions about WRB Analysis in your own trading or you do not document (journal) your own thoughts from trade to trade...the chat room will not be useful to you. Chat room access instructions @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewforum.php?f=164

Price Action Analysis via WRB Analysis Tutorials @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/WRBAnalysisTutorials.htm and there's a free study guide of the WRB Analysis Tutorial Chapters 1, 2 and 3 @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=119&t=718

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).

Trading Plan Daily Routine @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=234&t=2257

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Market Context Summaries

The below summaries by Bloomberg, CNNMoney, Reuters and Yahoo! Finance helps me to do a quick review of the fundamentals, FED/ECB/BOE/IMF actions or any important global economic events (e.g. Eurozone, MarketWatch.com) that had an impact on today's price action in many trading instruments I monitor during the trading day. Simply, I'm a strong believer that key market events causes key changes in supply/demand and volatility resulting in trade opportunities (swing points and strong continuation price actions) that reach profit targets. Thus, I pay attention to these key market events, intermarket analysis (e.g. Forex EurUsd, EuroFX 6E futures, Gold GC futures, Light Crude Oil (WTI) CL & Brent Oil futures, Eurex DAX futures, Euronext FTSE100 futures, Emini ES futures, Emini TF futures, Treasury ZB futures and U.S. Dollar Index futures) while using WRB Analysis from one trade to the next trade to give me the market context for price action trading before the appearance of my technical analysis trade signals. Therefore, I maintain these archives to allow me to understand what was happening on any given trading day in the past involving key market events to help better understand my trade decisions (day trading, swing trading, position trading)...something I can not get from my broker statements alone.

Dow Wins For The Week, But Not By Much


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

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
The "TGIF rally" fizzled in the afternoon, capping a rocky week on Wall Steet.

The Dow was the only major US index to end the week in positive territory after a decent 60-point rally on Friday.

Things looked promising on Friday as the Dow had been up nearly 150 points in late morning trading, but the early gains were scaled back by the end of the day -- and week. Even the blue chips were only able to garner 0.1% for the week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged higher for the day as well, but finished in the red for the week overall.

The dicey markets resulted in a lot of stock winners and losers.

Biotechs continued to get hammered with Gilead Sciences, (GILD, Fortune 500) Biogen Idec, (BIIB, Fortune 500)Celgene (CELG, Fortune 500) all closing sharply lower.

Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500)was up sharply after it said Thursday that its Office software will be ready for use on the iPad. Trader MTNBIKEJON on StockTwits thought he had a hunch why "old tech" was prospering, " $MSFT What if the dot com bubble is over?"

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) were also higher. The company announced it will install fire shields under its Model S sedan.

Positive economic news. Better news on the U.S. economy and good reports from a number of major companies helped lift the market in the morning.

Consumer spending rose 0.3% in February, the biggest gain in three months. Personal income also gained 0.3% last month. In addition, this month's University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was in line with expectations.

Big week for IPOs. CBS Outdoor Americas (CBSO), the billboard arm of CBS (CBS, Fortune 500), started trading Friday and was up more than 5% from its offering price of $28 a share to close at $29.50. From the looks of it, "old media" still holds a place in the hearts of investors.

The IPO today with the biggest gain though was Energous (WATT), a wire-free energy routing company. Shares soared more than 70%.

Also an IPO winner: 2U (TWOU), a cloud-based education provider that rose more than 7%.

But it was a very different story for shares of Everyday Health (EVDY). Investors don't seem to have as good a prognosis for the online health-related content provider. Shares fell more than 3%.

And the most hyped IPO of the week, Candy Crush Saga maker King Digital (KING), continued to struggle. Shares fell another 2%.

BlackBerry continues to struggle. Shares of BlackBerry (BBRY) reversed course and fell more than 7% after surging this morning. The swing prompted Nightrade to say, "$BBRY just becomes Redberry!"

The mobile device maker reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its fiscal fourth quarter. New CEO John Chen is trying to reverse the company's fortunes, and said in a statement that BlackBerry is "on sounder financial footing today with a path to returning to growth and profitability."

But Smithatude is bearish, "$BBRY Is there anything left for Chen to sell? Copper piping? Sure isn't going to be telephones. Never too late to short BBRY. $3 Price target."

Still, DomDom spoke more favorably about the turnaround efforts, "$BBRY Chen has done an amazing job stabilizing the ship, but #'s are needed first and it will be some time before the stock moves on that."

More winners and losers. Shares of Restoration Hardware (RH)are climbing after the furniture goods seller reported better than expected fourth quarter earnings. sciuridae sounded pumped-up, "$RH Great company. Great breakout potential in here." But trader Kasaby was critical,"$RH Clearly an overreaction on weak fundamentals..."

Also on the radar, Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) sued Visa (V, Fortune 500) for $5 billion in a price fixing case related to credit card swipe fees. Retailers and credit card companies have been over these fees for years, but this latest move comes with a potentially hefty price tag. Wal-Mart was essentially flat, while Visa was down 1.7%.

In the great "breakfast wars" McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500) took a swipe at Yum! Brands (YUM, Fortune 500) and its Taco Bell unit by offering free coffee for 2 weeks. Taco Bell just started rolling out its first ever morning menu featuring the Waffle Taco. As abubnic said on StockTwits: "Those Waffle Tacos must be a threat. $MCD Fights Back With Free Coffee."

European markets closed up, and most Asian markets closed out the trading day with gains, though the Shanghai Composite dipped by 0.2%.





4:10 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The stock market finished a cautious week on a modestly higher note, but kept only a portion of its opening gain. The S&P 500 added 0.5%, trimming its weekly loss to 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.1%, finishing the week with a 2.8% decline.

Emboldened by stimulus talk during the overnight session, equity indices began the day on a strong note with the Nasdaq leading the way. The tech-heavy index displayed early strength thanks to gains in biotechnology and other recently-battered momentum names. In all likelihood short covering played a part in the early advance that turned many recent laggards into leaders. One such area was the consumer discretionary sector, which added 0.8% for the day, but ended the week behind the remaining nine sectors with a loss of 2.1%.

Although the discretionary space held the bulk of today's gain, that was not the case with biotechnology. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 229.38, -6.76) surged out of the gate and notched a high 15 minutes into the day before spending the remainder of the session in a steady retreat. Selling pressure intensified in the afternoon as the ETF dropped to yesterday's lows before settling with a loss of 2.9%.

The continued weakness in biotech pressured the health care sector (-0.4%) while other heavily-weighted groups ended mixed with respect to the broader market. Like the aforementioned consumer discretionary space, industrials (+0.7%) outperformed while financials (+0.4%) lagged. For its part, the largest S&P 500 sector, technology, ended in-line with the broader market.

Also of note, the energy sector (+1.2%) outperformed for the second day in a row, bringing its weekly gain to 2.5%. The sector drew strength from Dow component ExxonMobil (XOM 97.70, +1.46), which gained 1.5% while crude oil added 0.4% to $101.67/bbl.

On the countercyclical side, all four sectors ended behind the broader market. The telecom services (-0.1%) sector posted a modest loss while consumer staples (+0.4%) and utilities (+0.2%) registered gains.

Treasuries ended near their lows after retreating throughout the session. The benchmark 10-yr yield rose three basis points to 2.72%.

Trading volume was on the light side with just over 620 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.

Reviewing today's data:

Personal income increased 0.3% for a second consecutive month in February. The Briefing.com consensus expected income to increase 0.2%. As foretold in the employment report, wages and salaries were up 0.2% in February after increasing 0.3% in January. The Medicaid expansion from the implementation of the Affordable Care Act offset declines in unemployment insurance from the expiration of the emergency unemployment benefits. In all, government social benefits increased 0.8%. Personal spending met expectations, increasing 0.3% in February, up from a downwardly revised 0.2% (from 0.4%) in January.

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index was revised up to 80.0 in the final March reading from 79.9 in the preliminary reading (Briefing.com consensus 80.0). Sentiment is still below the 81.6 final reading from February. There was a divergence between the March Conference Board's Consumer Confidence and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment indicators. The Confidence Index jumped to a six year high on stronger future expectations while the respondents in the University of Michigan survey were much more subdued. Competing trends are nothing new, but they do discount the effectiveness of using these data points to predict future consumption growth.

On Monday, the Chicago PMI for March will be reported at 9:45 ET.

S&P 500 +0.5% YTD
Nasdaq Composite -0.5% YTD
Russell 2000 -0.9% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -1.5% YTD

Week in Review: Stocks Slide Amid Volatility in Biotechnology

The stock market kicked off the trading week on a cautious note with the Nasdaq leading the retreat. The tech-heavy index lost 1.2% while the S&P 500 fell 0.5% with eight sectors ending in the red. For its part, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.2%) held up relatively well. Equity indices began the session in the green, but quickly slumped into the red as biotechnology continued its recent woes while other momentum names displayed broad weakness. Late-afternoon buying lifted the key averages off their lows, but the Nasdaq could only reclaim a portion of its loss. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF settled lower by 2.8% after testing its 100-day moving average (235.61) for the first time since early November.

The major indices strung together modest gains on Tuesday on the back of some strong showings from blue-chip issues and a volatile rebound effort by the beaten-down biotechnology stocks. The move followed on the heels of a strong outing by major European bourses, which shot up largely in response to some remarks from Bundesbank head, Jens Weidmann, who suggested it was not out of the realm of possibility for the ECB to implement a QE-type program to fight deflation. It would be remiss not to add that ECB President Draghi spoke later in the day and said the ECB is not currently seeing any evidence of deflation.

Equity indices finished the Wednesday session on a cautious note with the S&P 500 falling 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.6%) outperformed while small caps bore the brunt of the pressure. The Russell 2000 declined 1.9% while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.4%. Equity indices began the day on an upbeat note, but the financial sector (-0.9%) served up an early warning by not taking part in the opening rally. One industry group that briefly participated in the early advance was the biotech space. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF was up as much as 1.1% during the first hour of action, but faded from the early high, taking the market lower with it. Interestingly, the broader health care sector (+0.1%) finished the day ahead of the remaining nine groups.

On Thursday, the market finished the session on a lower note with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (-0.5%) trailing the other indices once again. The Nasdaq widened its week-to-date loss to 3.6% while the S&P 500 settled lower by 0.2%, extending its weekly decline to 0.9%. Equity indices began the trading day on a cautious note despite two upbeat economic data points crossing ahead of the open. Namely, fourth quarter GDP was revised up to 2.6% from 2.4% while weekly initial claims fell to 311,000 from 320,000. The release of this morning's data coincided with session lows in Treasuries, which rallied into the afternoon. The 10-yr note added four ticks, pressuring its yield down to 2.68% after notching a morning high at 2.71%.

3:40 pm: [BRIEFING.COM]

Apr gold spent most of today's floor trade in negative territory, dipping to a session low of $1285.90 per ounce shortly after equity markets opened. It touched a session high of $1296.50 per ounce but retreated back into the red. It settled 0.1% lower at $1293.90 per ounce, booking a 3.1% loss for the week.
May silver touched a session high of $19.89 per ounce after lifting from its session low of $19.66 per ounce set in early morning action. It settled 0.4% higher at $19.78 per ounce, booking a 2.6% weekly loss.
May crude oil pulled back from its session high of $102.24 per barrel set in morning action but managed to stay in positive territory. It brushed a session low of $101.40 per barrel and eventually settled at $101.67 per barrel, or 0.4% higher. Today's advance brought gains for the week to 2.2%.
May natural gas touched a session high of $4.56 per MMBtu as pit trade opened but quickly slipped into negative territory. Unable to find buying support, it settled 1.1% lower at its session low of $4.48 per MMBtu. Despite today's loss, natural gas gained 4.2% for the week.

3:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 trades higher by 0.3% with one hour remaining in the final session of the week. The benchmark index surged out of the gate, but has been trapped in a steady downtrend since notching its session high just ahead of 11:00 ET. Interestingly, today's session high may have coincided with some technical resistance presented by the 20-day moving average (1863).

It is also worth noting that today's price action has been pretty consistent with several recent affairs that saw strong moves at the open, followed by daylong retreats.

Given its current level, the S&P 500 is on track to end the week with a 0.6% loss while the Nasdaq (+0.1%) enters the last hour of action holding a week-to-date loss of 2.9%. Small caps, however, have had to contend with even stronger selling pressure as the Russell 2000 has given up 3.6% this week.

2:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices have continued their retreat with the Nasdaq (-0.2%) and Russell 2000 (-0.3%) sliding into the red.

Throughout the session, we have been keeping a close eye on the biotechnology space, which has spent the trading day in a steady retreat from its opening high. Fittingly, the recent retreat in the major averages was accompanied by accelerated selling in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 229.50, -6.64). The ETF is now lower by 2.8% as it hovers near yesterday's session lows.

The continued weakness in biotech weighs on the health care (-0.4%) sector while other heavily-weighted groups remain mixed. Consumer discretionary (+0.7%) and technology (+0.4%) outperform while financials (+0.3%) lag.

2:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.6%) continues hovering near its afternoon low as the quiet session continues.

Biotechnology (IBB -1.8%) and financials (+0.3%) remain in a position of relative weakness while the relative strength of groups like consumer discretionary (+0.9%), energy (+1.4%), industrials (+0.9%), and technology (+0.7%) have kept the broader market from following in the lead of the laggards.

Intraday trading volume has been on the light side with less than 350 million shares having changed hands at the NYSE so far. This suggests today's final total is likely to come in below the 200-day average of 716 million.

1:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The major averages have retreated from their recent levels with a subtle change in leadership taking place. Specifically, the Nasdaq (+0.5%) has now slipped behind the S&P 500 (+0.6%) due to continued weakness in the biotechnology space.

As mentioned in our midday update, biotech displayed relative strength out of the gate, but has been fading slowly since the initial rally. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 232.08, -4.06) is lower by 1.7%, which puts the ETF on track to finish the week with a 5.7% loss.

Elsewhere, the second-largest sector, financials, has narrowed its gain to 0.4% after trailing the broader market through the first half of the session.

Although most other sectors continue trading ahead of the broader market, biotechnology and financials deserve close attention into the close as additional weakness in those areas would likely invite broad-market weakness.

1:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] At midday, the major averages sport solid gains with the Nasdaq (+0.8%) trading just a shade ahead of the other indices.

The stock market surged out of the gate after the overnight session was filled with calls for stimulus from world's main central banks. On that note, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged the Bank of Japan to act in order to ensure the 2.0% inflation target can be met. Separately, several analysts at European banks have suggested the European Central Bank will unleash a quantitative easing program at the April 3 meeting.

The stimulus hopes mixed with some short covering activity sent the S&P 500 on a 14-point rally with the bulk of the move taking place during the opening 30 minutes. Since the opening advance, the benchmark index has been confined to a four-point range.

It is worth mentioning that the early rally was fueled by sectors that have underperformed in recent days, suggesting short-covering factored into the surge. Specifically, the consumer discretionary sector (+1.1%) spiked out of the gate after trailing its peers earlier in the week. Despite the group's solid midday gain, it remains behind the other nine sectors with a week-to-date loss of 1.8%.

Elsewhere, biotechnology also took part in the early climb, but has once again relinquished its gain. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 233.36, -2.78) is lower by 1.2% after being up almost 1.0% right after the opening bell. Accordingly, the intraday weakness has caused the health care sector (+0.3%) to retreat from its early high.

Despite the fading gains from the health care sector, most other influential sectors continue trading ahead of the broader market. The financial sector (+0.5%) is an exception as the group trails the S&P 500.

Treasuries hover near their lows with the benchmark 10-yr yield up four basis points at 2.72%.

Reviewing today's data:

Personal income increased 0.3% for a second consecutive month in February. The Briefing.com consensus expected income to increase 0.2%. As foretold in the employment report, wages and salaries were up 0.2% in February after increasing 0.3% in January. The Medicaid expansion from the implementation of the Affordable Care Act offset declines in unemployment insurance from the expiration of the emergency unemployment benefits. In all, government social benefits increased 0.8%. Personal spending met expectations, increasing 0.3% in February, up from a downwardly revised 0.2% (from 0.4%) in January.
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index was revised up to 80.0 in the final March reading from 79.9 in the preliminary reading (Briefing.com consensus 80.0). Sentiment is still below the 81.6 final reading from February. There was a divergence between the March Conference Board's Consumer Confidence and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment indicators. The Confidence Index jumped to a six year high on stronger future expectations while the respondents in the University of Michigan survey were much more subdued. Competing trends are nothing new, but they do discount the effectiveness of using these data points to predict future consumption growth.

12:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The major averages continue holding narrow ranges with the Nasdaq Composite (+0.8%) trading just a bit ahead of the other indices. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (+0.7%) follows not far behind after spending the past two hours in a four point range.

Currently, the benchmark index trades in the middle of that recent range with energy (+1.2%) and consumer discretionary (+1.1%) sectors jockeying for the lead.

Elsewhere, biotechnology has continued its retreat (IBB -1.1%), but the broader market has taken the biotech weakness in stride. The health care sector (+0.4%), meanwhile, sits on its session low.

12:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices have retreated from their best levels of the session, but continue holding the bulk of their gains. The S&P 500 has narrowed its gain to 0.7% while the Nasdaq (+0.9%) remains ahead of the benchmark index.

Six of ten sectors continue trading ahead of the broader market with consumer discretionary (+1.1%) and energy (+1.1%) in the lead. Energy (+1.1%), industrials (+0.9%), and materials (+0.8%) also display gains larger than the benchmark index while financials (+0.5%) and health care (+0.6%) lag.

Notably, the health care sector has given up roughly a half of its opening gain due to weakness in biotechnology. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 235.08, -1.06) hovers near its session low, down 0.5%.

11:30 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Recent action saw the major averages continue holding their levels with the Nasdaq (+1.1%) maintaining its lead.

With some of the recent laggards assuming a position of strength today, it is pretty safe to say that some short covering has played a part in the opening rally. At this juncture, eight sectors trade in the green with five groups trading ahead of the S&P 500 (+0.8%).

The consumer discretionary sector was one of the soft spots over the course of the week, but that is not the case today. The growth-sensitive group trades higher by 1.2%, which has trimmed its week-to-date loss to 1.7%. Even though the sector trades ahead of the remaining nine groups, it is still on track to finish the week at the bottom of the leaderboard.

10:55 am: [BRIEFING.COM] The major averages remain near their best levels of the session with the Nasdaq (+1.2%) holding the lead. Notably, the Nasdaq trades ahead of the remaining indices after underperforming through the first four sessions of the week. Despite today's gain, the tech-heavy index remains lower by 1.9% this week.

Similar to the Nasdaq, many momentum names that have pressured the index in recent sessions are in a position of relative strength today. Amazon.com (AMZN 345.58, +7.11), Netflix (NFLX 368.46, +4.28), Tesla (TSLA 215.25, +7.93), and Priceline.com (PCLN 1208.35, +26.10) all sport gains between 1.3% and 3.9%.

Interestingly, the biotech industry group has continued showing volatility as the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 236.45, +0.31) displayed strength during the first hour, but has since faded from the early high.

10:35 am: [BRIEFING.COM]

Copper futures have been trending higher since the overnight session and rose as high as $3.05/lb
Strength has continued in morning action and May copper is now +1.6% at $3.04/lb
Gold, silver and crude oil futures sold off this morning. Gold and silver fell in the red, but crude remained in positive territory
Gold and silver have since recovered. Apr gold is currently -0.04% at $1294.30/oz and May silver is +0.7% at $19.85/oz
Natural gas sold off from its morning spike to its new session high and is now -1.1% at $4.49/MMBtu
May crude oil is +0.5% at $101.76/barrel

10:00 am: [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 has extended its gain to 0.7% thanks to a broad-based push higher from most sectors.

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment report for March was revised up to 80.0 from 79.9 in the final reading, which matched the Briefing.com consensus expectations.

9:40 am: [BRIEFING.COM] The stock market began the session modestly higher with the S&P 500 (+0.5%) receiving early support from nine sectors trading in the green.

Like yesterday, the energy space (+0.6%) opened ahead of the remaining sectors while crude oil trades higher by 0.8% at $102.05/bbl. Elsewhere, consumer discretionary (+0.6%) and industrials (+0.5%) also appear among the early outperformers.

On the downside, the utilities sector (-0.1%) hovers in the red while the next weakest group-financials-trades higher by 0.3%.

Treasuries remain flat with the 10-yr yield at 2.69%.

The final reading of the March Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey will be released at 10:00 ET.

9:13 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +3.40. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +11.70. The major averages are on track to begin the final session of the week on a modestly higher note. The S&P 500 futures trade three points above fair value with the benchmark index looking to trim its week-to-date loss of 0.9%. The Nasdaq faces a bigger challenge as the tech heavy index will enter the session down 2.9% so far this week.

Overnight, stimulus talk dominated the wires with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calling on the Bank of Japan to act in order to achieve the 2.0% inflation target swiftly. In Europe, a similar sentiment was shared with several analysts expecting the European Central Bank to announce a quantitative easing program following its April 3 meeting.

Domestically, participants received the February personal income report, which pointed to an increase of 0.3% while the Briefing.com consensus expected an uptick of 0.2%. Meanwhile, personal spending rose 0.3%, which matched the consensus expectations. Separately, core PCE prices rose 0.1%, as expected.

Treasuries are little changed with the 10-yr yield at 2.69%.

8:55 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +3.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +12.50. The S&P 500 futures trade almost four points above fair value.

Asian markets finished mostly higher with the exception of China's Shanghai Composite, which shed 0.2%. Comments from Chinese President Li crossed the wires, indicating Beijing was ready to implement more pro-growth measures. Elsewhere, Japanese data was mixed as household spending (-2.5% year-over-year versus 0.2% expected) missed, retail sales (3.6% year-over-year versus 3.4% expected) beat, and Tokyo Core CPI posted a hotter than anticipated 1.0% year-over-year increase (0.9% expected).

Japan's Nikkei climbed 0.5%, seeing a second day of gains. Blue chips endured a mixed session as Fast Retailing climbed 1.9% and Softbank fell 1.5%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rallied 1.1% to a two and a half-week high. Financials saw solid gains with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China climbing 2.2% following its better than expected quarterly results.
China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.2%, slumping for a third session. Automaker SAIC Motor outperformed, posting an 8.4% advance after its quarterly results exceed analyst's expectations.

Major European indices trade higher across the board with Italy's MIB (+1.3%) setting the pace. Participants received several data points. Eurozone Consumer Confidence improved to -9.0 from -12.7 (expected -13.0) while Business and Consumer Survey rose to 102.4 from 101.2 (consensus 101.4). Germany's Import Price Index ticked down 0.1% month-over-month (forecast 0.2%, last -0.1%). Great Britain's Q4 GDP was left unrevised at 2.7% year-over-year, as expected. Separately, the current account deficit narrowed to GBP22.40 billion from GBP22.80 billion (expected deficit of GBP14.00 billion). French Consumer Spending ticked up 0.1% month-over-month (expected 0.8%, prior -2.1%) while PPI ticked down 0.1% month-over-month (expected 0.3%, last -0.6%). Italy's PPI was unchanged month-over-month (expected 0.2%, last -0.2%) while the year-over-year reading fell 1.4% (consensus -1.5%, last -1.3%). Elsewhere, Spain's Retail Sales fell 0.5% year-over-year (prior 0.5%).

Among news of note, stimulus talk was alive in Europe with various analysts suggesting the European Central Bank will announce a quantitative easing program at the press conference following the upcoming meeting on April 3.

Great Britain's FTSE is higher by 0.1% with miners showing strength. Anglo American, Antofagasta, Glencore Xstrata, and Rio Tinto hold gains between 0.7% and 2.0%. On the downside, insurer Resolution has tumbled 14.2% after an investigation into life and pension policies was announced.
In France, the CAC trades up 0.3%. Steelmakers ArcelorMittal and Vallourec outperform with respective gains of 1.0% and 2.3%. Insurer AXA is the weakest performer, down 1.6%.
Germany's DAX holds an advance of 0.8%. Exporters Daimler and Volkswagen lead with both names up near 2.0%. On the downside, Continental and Allianz are the only two decliners. Allianz is lower by 0.6% while Continental trades down 0.1%.
In Italy, the MIB is higher by 1.3%. Financials Banco Popolare, BMPS, and Intesa Sanpaolo lead with gains between 3.2% and 6.4%.

8:31 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +4.10. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +11.70. The S&P 500 futures trade four points above fair value.

February personal income increased 0.3% while the Briefing.com consensus expected an uptick of 0.2%. Meanwhile, personal spending rose 0.3%, which matched the consensus expectations.

Separately, core PCE prices rose 0.1%, as expected.

7:57 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +3.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +12.20. U.S. equity futures trade modestly higher amid upbeat action overseas. The S&P 500 futures hover four points above fair value.

Reviewing overnight developments:

Asian markets ended mixed. China's Shanghai Composite -0.2%, Japan's Nikkei +0.5%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng +1.1%.
In regional economic data:
Japan's National CPI rose 1.5% year-over-year while National Core CPI increased 1.3%. Both figures met expectations. Tokyo CPI rose 1.3% year-over-year (consensus 1.2%, prior 1.1%) while Tokyo Core CPI increased 1.0% (forecast 0.9%, previous 0.9%). Separately, Retail Sales jumped 3.6% year-over-year (consensus 3.2%, last 4.4%) while Household Spending fell 2.5% (expected 0.1%, previous 1.1%). Also of note, the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.6% from 3.7% (expected 3.7%).
South Korea's Industrial Production fell 1.8% month-over-month (consensus -0.2%, last -0.1%) while the year-over-year reading jumped 4.3% (expected 4.1%, prior -4.3%). Separately, Retail Sales fell 3.2% month-over-month (consensus -0.5%, prior 2.2%).
In news:
Japan's in-line inflation reading and the better-than-expected unemployment rate cooled some expectations for imminent additional easing after stimulus talk dominated the conversation over the course of the week. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, however, kept the stimulus chatter going by urging the Bank of Japan to achieve its 2.0% inflation target 'swiftly.'
Major European indices trade higher across the board. Great Britain's FTSE +0.1%, France's CAC +0.4%, and Germany's DAX +0.8%. Elsewhere, Spain's IBEX +1.0% and Italy's MIB +1.3%.
Participants received several data points:
Eurozone Consumer Confidence improved to -9.0 from -12.7 (expected -13.0) while Business and Consumer Survey rose to 102.4 from 101.2 (consensus 101.4).
Germany's Import Price Index ticked down 0.1% month-over-month (forecast 0.2%, last -0.1%).
Great Britain's Q4 GDP was left unrevised at 2.7% year-over-year, as expected. Separately, the current account deficit narrowed to GBP22.40 billion from GBP22.80 billion (expected deficit of GBP14.00 billion).
French Consumer Spending ticked up 0.1% month-over-month (expected 0.8%, prior -2.1%) while PPI ticked down 0.1% month-over-month (expected 0.3%, last -0.6%).
Italy's PPI was unchanged month-over-month (expected 0.2%, last -0.2%) while the year-over-year reading fell 1.4% (consensus -1.5%, last -1.3%).
Spain's Retail Sales fell 0.5% year-over-year (prior 0.5%)
Among news of note:
Stimulus talk was alive in Europe with various analysts suggesting the European Central Bank will announce a quantitative easing program at the press conference following the upcoming meeting on April 3.

In U.S. corporate news:

BlackBerry (BBRY 9.67, +0.62): +6.6% after beating bottom-line estimates on below-consensus revenue.
Finish Line (FINL 27.25, +0.77): +2.9% after beating on earnings and guiding fiscal-year 2015 earnings below analyst estimates.

February Personal Income (Briefing.com consensus +0.2%), Personal Spending (consensus +0.3%), and Core PCE Prices (consensus +0.1%) will be released at 8:30 ET while the final reading of the March Michigan Sentiment survey (consensus 80.0) will cross the wires at 9:55 ET.

6:22 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +4.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +15.50.

6:22 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Nikkei...14696.03...+73.10...+0.50%. Hang Seng...22065.53...+231.10...+1.10%.

6:22 am: [BRIEFING.COM] FTSE...6626.90...+38.60...+0.60%. DAX...9542.04...+90.80...+1.00%.

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

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

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