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 @ $440.00 dollars or +4.40 points, Emini ES ($ES_F) futures @ $62.50 dollars or +1.25 points, Light Crude Oil CL ($CL_F) futures @ $120.00 dollars or +0.12 points, Gold GC ($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 @ $622.50 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 timestamp ##TheStrategyLab chat room. You can read today's price action trading information about my trades (e.g. time, price entry, contract size, price exit) as the trade traversed to its completion. Also, sometimes I'll post real-time trading tips 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=129&t=1773


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) general volatility analysis involving WRB Analysis 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 and I do not have the time/energy/resources to manage a signal calling chat room. Access instructions for chat room @ 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=236&t=2302

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

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. 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.

Stocks: Dull Day Until Netflix News


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

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Stocks drifted higher Monday as U.S. investors got back into action after the long holiday weekend. It will be a week full corporate earnings reports, including well known brands like Netflix (NFLX), McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500) and Facebook (FB, Fortune 500).

The Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq all ended the day with gains, albeit slight ones. The Dow was up only 0.25%. Trading volume was anemic with many professional money managers taking the day off.

U.S. markets were closed Friday for Good Friday. European markets and some Asian markets are still closed Monday for the Easter holiday.

The lack of excitement was palpable on StockTwits: "very dull morning...what is it they say...don't short a dull market... $SPY," said user howardlindzon.

Investors were looking ahead to corporate results due later this week, with 11 Dow companies and 161 of the S&P 500 scheduled to release quarterly reports.

Analysts expect overall earnings for the S&P 500 to have declined the first quarter, but results so far have been better than forecast. Of the 82 companies that have reported earnings as of last week, 66% have topped forecasts, according to Fact Set Research.

"This week should give us a better read on the earnings season," said Bill Stone, chief strategist at PNC Wealth Management.

Related: Americans still don't trust the stock market

But the earnings picture was mixed Monday.

Kimberly-Clark (KMB, Fortune 500), a producer of consumer products including Kleenex, reported a loss that was smaller than the loss reported a year ago. The stock was down about 1.5%. Toy company Hasbro (HAS) also swung to a profit.

Halliburton (HAL, Fortune 500) shares rose 3% after the oil field services company's earnings narrowly beat expectations. The company, along with others in the oil and gas industry, is riding a boom in domestic energy production.

"$HAL this shouldn't be a big surprise considering the outperformance in the energy sector as of late," said TarhiniTrade.

After the market closed, Netflix reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations. The company said it plans to raise prices for new customers by $1 to $2 in some countries later this quarter.

Netflix stock was up in after hours trading. It has been one of Wall Street's big momentum plays and the top performer in the S&P 500 last year, with an incredible 269% rise. But tech stocks have been volatile over the past several weeks, and Netflix shares are down 6% this year.

Two of the biggest stock gains of the day were unexpected.

J.C. Penney (JCP, Fortune 500) shares were rebounding from last week's losses. They finished the day up over 9%, although there wasn't a clear consensus on what was driving the upswing. Shares of Zillow (Z) were also up sharply (over 7.5%), adding to this year's 26% gain.

At least one trader on StockTwits said any surprises this week could help the market regain some momentum.

"Some strong earnings reports over the next few weeks have the POTENTIAL to end the recent Downtrend. $SPY $QQQ," read a post by DarvasTrader.

GM (GM, Fortune 500), Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and Stabucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) are among the other big companies set to release results later in the week.

Lululemon (LULU) shares were under pressure following the company's analyst meeting Friday when some felt there wasn't a clear vision for how to increase sales. Over the weekend, a judge dismissed a challenge from shareholders who claimed they were misled about the quality issues at Lululemon last year.

TransCanada (TRP), which builds pipelines and other energy infrastructure, was down 3.7% Monday after the U.S. again push back a decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

Related: Keystone XL delay pounds TransCanada stock

Ford (F, Fortune 500) shares were down slightly following a report that chief financial officer Mark Fields will replace chief executive Alan Mulally before the end of this year.

It was another sour day for Chipotle (CMG), which was the second biggest loser in the S&P 500 Monday. It continues to struggle after its earnings report last week as the company warned about rising food prices.

Shares of Newmont Mining (NEM, Fortune 500) rose after Bloomberg reported that it's in talks to be bought by rival gold mining company Barrick Gold Corp (ABX). The report said negotiations hit a snag three days ago, but suggested that Barrick is willing to pay a significant premium.

Chinese social media company Weibo (WB), often compared to Twitter (TWTR), continued to rally following its initial public offering last week. The stock was up more than 13%.

According to one StockTwits user, Weibo now has a larger market value than its former parent company, SINA Corp (SINA), which has a market cap of $3.4 billion.

"Yes..at this exact moment $WB mrkt cap is now $1B more than the company it just spun from..$SINA," said Dlerch.





4:10 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The trading action in the stock market today left a lot to be desired, yet that didn't stop the market from finishing the day higher. Led by the health care (+1.2%), energy (+0.7%), and technology (+0.4%) sectors, the S&P 500 jumped 0.4% and closed the session with its fifth consecutive gain -- a first in 2014.

The US market reopened after the three-day Easter weekend, but for all intents and purposes, it continued to operate in holiday mode. Trading conditions were thin, no doubt kept that way by the lack of activity out of Europe where markets remained closed for the Easter holiday. NYSE volume totaled just 591 mln mln shares, which was well below a recent average of 725 mln shares.

There were only a handful of earnings reports today, yet the earnings news and the trading volume should pick up as the week progresses with roughly 150 S&P 500 companies reporting results for the March quarter.

Today's trading featured a report that Pfizer (PFE 30.86, +0.61) may be considering a $100 bln acquisition of AstraZeneca (AZN 69.11, +5.62). That speculation underpinned the health care sector all day. Additionally, the sector drew added support from the biotech stocks, which continued to rebound from their recent drubbing. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 227.34, +5.18) jumped 2.3% and contributed handsomely to the Nasdaq's outperformance.

Overall, there wasn't a lot of significant sector strength. Gains were modest in size, evidenced by the fact that the health care sector was the only sector to gain at least 1.0%. Similarly, there weren't any big losers from a sector standpoint either. The utilities sector (-0.2%) was the biggest laggard, but it was the financial sector (-0.04%) that was the most influential laggard despite a better than expected earnings report from SunTrust Banks (STI 38.52, +0.57). The sector's weakness can be blamed mostly on the money-center banks, which dipped modestly in today's action.

Other companies topping earnings expectations, like Halliburton (HAL 62.92, +2.02) and Hasbro (HAS 55.66, +1.05), fared well. Kimberly-Clark (KMB 110.94, -1.60), on the other hand, did not even though it surpassed the Capital IQ consensus EPS estimate for its March quarter by a penny.

Ford (F 15.97, -0.03) was another company that drew some added attention after reports indicated the company will be announcing CEO Alan Mulally's departure date on May 1. After Mr. Mulally's departure, COO Mark Fields will take over the CEO post.

Separately, IBM (IBM 192.27, +2.26) rebounded from its post-earnings lashing on Thursday to lead the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It was the only component, however, to gain at least a point.

On the economic front, the Leading Indicators report for March met expectations, showing a 0.8% increase that marked the third consecutive monthly increase. That was up from 0.5% in February and could be construed as an encouraging indication for future growth. That point notwithstanding, the Treasury market held firm today.

Tuesday's economic calendar will feature the Existing Home Sales report for March. The Briefing.com consensus estimate calls for existing home sales to be flat versus February at 4.60 mln units.
Related Stories

Gains Fading For Stocks; NQ Mobile Slides Investor's Business Daily
Stocks Back Out Of Early Gains; SanDisk, Chipotle Rise Investor's Business Daily
Stocks Higher In Late Afternoon; First Solar Jumps Investor's Business Daily
How the Dow Jones industrial average did Thursday Associated Press
Nasdaq Finishes Near 4000 Level In Another Sell-Off Investor's Business Daily

S&P 500 YTD: +1.3%
Dow Jones Industrial Average YTD: -0.7%
Nasdaq Composite YTD: -1.3%
Russell 2000 YTD: -2.0%

3:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM]

Precious metals traded lower today as the dollar index saw modest gains.
June gold brushed a session high of $1293.90 per ounce in morning action but retreated back below the $1290 per ounce level. It eventually settled 0.5% lower at $1288.20 per ounce.
May silver touched a session high of $19.47 per ounce in early morning action and settled with a 1.3 % loss at $19.34 per ounce.
May crude oil touched a session low of $103.99 per barrel in late afternoon action after pulling back from a session high of $104.77 per barrel set in morning action.
It managed to recover back into positive territory and settled 4 cents higher at $104.35 per barrel.
May natural gas slipped into negative territory after retreating from a session high of $4.78 per MMBtu.
Unable to regain momentum, it settled at its session low of $4.69 per MMBtu, or 1.1% lower.

3:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Trading at their highs for the day with an hour to go, the major indices continue to hold up well after last week's big advance. Strikingly, as stocks have maintained a winning edge today, Treasuries have faded from their best levels.

The 10-yr note, up nine ticks earlier, is now up one tick. It is interesting that Treasuries are up at all today given the gains in the stock market and the encouraging Leading Indicators report.

The Treasury market's positive disposition, along with the underperformance of the financials (-0.1%) and the light trading volume, are some markers that don't line up so well with a "strong" equity market, so the sustainability of today's gains throughout the week will probably hinge on the flood of earnings results and guidance that will be heard as the week progresses.

2:25 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Inch by little inch, market participants are pressing the bid and have pushed the major indices close to their session highs. The 1872 area is a zone of technical resistance, so it will be interesting to see how the S&P 500 responds here after running out of gas earlier in the day when it ran north of 1870.

Internally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is a mixed bag, but gains in its higher-priced components have tipped things in a positive direction today. IBM (IBM 192.54, +2.55) is the standard bearer in that respect. It is up 1.3%. Visa (V 208.82, +0.87) is following behind as the next biggest price mover.

Tomorrow's economic calendar will be housing centric with the FHFA Housing Price Index for February at 9:00 a.m. ET and the Existing Home Sales for March at 10:00 a.m. ET (Briefing.com consensus 4.60 mln; prior 4.60 mln).

1:55 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The stock market isn't moving higher with great conviction. Then again, it isn't moving lower either, which is probably the bigger consideration today.

Sellers are probably feeling a little whipsawed by last week's action, which morphed an ugly move in the Nasdaq to something that was pretty to look at by week's end. The huge reversal in the tech sector underpinned the broader market, which jumped 2.7% last week.

If the S&P 500 can score another winning session today, it will be its first five-day winning streak in 2014.

The financial sector (-0.1%) still isn't doing much to help that effort, yet the outperformance of the health care (+1.0%), energy (+0.6%), and technology (0.4%) sectors has offset that lackluster showing.

1:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The major indices remain stuck in tightly-bound ranges -- so tight that a one-point pop in the S&P 500 looks scintillating on an intraday chart.

The Nasdaq Composite (+0.5%) is leading the winning way as it has since the start of trading.

There aren't many story stocks today, but that will be sure to change throughout the week given the rush of earnings results that will be released. Approximately 150 S&P 500 companies will have reported their results by the end of the week. This morning's reporters have not had any major headline impact.

Netflix (NFLX 344.28, -1.46) is the big name to report tonight. Comcast (CMCSA 49.60, +0.50), McDonald's (MCD 99.86, -0.39), Travelers (TRV 86.23, -0.45), and United Technologies (UTX 118.29, -0.28) highlight a long list of reporters before Tuesday's open.

12:55 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Today's midday summary is going to be short and sweet because there's simply not a lot of plot lines today. There have been a handful of earnings reports, only one economic release, and an intriguing M&A rumor. European markets, meanwhile, remained closed for the Easter holiday. Some Asian markets were open, but trading there was mixed, on the light side, and inconsequential for the most part in terms of its influence here.

What has taken place here has been a mostly range-bound trade for the major indices that has had a few moments of waffling but no significant moments of true conviction on either the buy side or the sell side.

The major indices are all up between 0.1% and 0.3%. There isn't a single sector in the S&P 500 that is up, or down, at least 1.0%. Health care leads on the upside with a 0.6% gain while the consumer staples sector leads on the downside with a 0.1% loss. The outperformance of the health care sector has been aided by a report that Pfizer (PFE 30.58, +0.33) may be considering a deal to acquire AstraZeneca (AZN 67.07, +3.58) for as much as $100 bln.

The earnings results from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 4.16, +0.47), Halliburton (HAL 62.52, +1.62), Hasbro (HAS 54.98, +0.37), and Kimberly-Clark (KMB 111.01, -1.53) were all better than expected. Each of those stocks has benefited as a result, with the exception of Kimberly-Clark.

IBM (IBM 192.41, +2.40) is trying to bounce back from the pounding it took on Thursday after it reported earnings. It is currently the best-performing Dow component on no new news.

Separately, the Leading Indicators report for March increased 0.8%, which was in-line with the Briefing.com consensus estimate. That was the third straight month of gains and above the 0.5% increase reported for February. It is a seemingly encouraging data point for future economic activity, yet the Treasury market so far is contradicting such assumptions based on the gains seen at the back end of the yield curve, which is more sensitive to rising interest rates that would accompany stronger growth.

The 10-yr note is up five ticks (yielding 2.70%) while the 30-yr bond is up 11 ticks (yielding 3.50%).

Trading volume is understandably on the light side, totaling just 241 mln shares so far at the NYSE versus 286 mln shares at this same point last Monday.

12:25 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The bulls are still toeing the stock market line today as the major indices cling to modest gains in what has been a tightly traded range over the last hour. Strikingly, the Russell 2000 has battled back from earlier losses and is now trading in-line with the S&P 500, which is up 0.2%.

The Dow, and S&P 400 Midcap Index are also up 0.2%, which leaves the Nasdaq at the leadership post with a 0.4% gain.

Volume remains on the light side with just 219 mn shares traded so far at the NYSE versus a recent average of 263 mln shares at this juncture.

Separately, gold ($1286.40/oz., -$7.50) has been on the weak side of things today as has silver ($19.36/oz., -$0.24). A recent break of key range support for the euro over the last hour raises the risk of further follow-through selling for those metals whose trading is dollar denominated.

11:55 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Boston Marathon participants are off and running. We can't say the same thing necessarily for the stock market, which is off and trotting.

Still seeing modest gains for the major indices (which isn't a bad thing) as buying efforts have cooled off from last week's rapid-fire recovery effort. Like last week, though, the tech sector has been a leader in today's early effort with a good bit of the buying activity concentrated among the large-cap issues.

Google (GOOG 531.14, -4.97) is a notable laggard in the latter respect, yet gains in Apple (AAPL 529.05, +4.11), Cisco (CSCO 23.47, +0.26), Amgen (AMGN 116.32, +0.86), and Biogen (BIIB 294.55, +4.01) have thrust the Nasdaq 100 (+0.4%) into a relative strength position.

Separately, the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 223.79, +1.63) continues its turnaround effort and is outperforming the market today.

11:25 am: [BRIEFING.COM] The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 and S&P 400 are each up 0.2% in what has been a choppy trade today. It is peculiar to see such uniformity in returns. If we didn't know any better, we'd say the computers are calling the shots today.

Whatever the case may be, it is evident that the market isn't going to cough up last week's gains easily -- certainly not today anyway.

Large-cap and mid-cap issues look to be the outlet of choice for today's buyers. The Russell 2000 is lagging behind with a 0.1% decline.

The best-performing sector so far is the health care sector (+0.5%), which has gotten a boost from reports that Pfizer (PFE 30.56, +0.31) is mulling a possible $100 bln deal to acquire AstraZeneca (AZN 67.36, +3.87). On the flip side, the consumer staples sector (-0.1%) is bringing up the rear.

11:00 am: [BRIEFING.COM] The early advance for the market ran into some technical resistance with the S&P 500 pushing the 1871 level. Now, the major indices are mixed as a wave of selling interest has flattened everything out in what has been termed a sloppy session so far.

Notably, we are seeing some relative strength in the defensive-oriented utilities (+0.4%), telecom services (+0.3%), and health care (+0.2%) sectors. Conversely, the influential financial sector (-0.1%) is trailing behind and has been since the opening bell.

Just not a lot of conviction at the moment as participants are trying to assess whether last week's turnaround rally effort has some more legs or is due to have those legs cut out from under it.

Treasuries are faring well with buying interest concentrated at the back end of the curve. Somewhat surprising actually given the strength seen in the Leading Indicators report for March (+0.8%), which seemingly points to stronger economic activity ahead. The 10-yr note is up eight ticks, lowering its yield to 2.69%, while the 30-yr bond is up 20 ticks with its yield at 3.49%.

10:35 am: [BRIEFING.COM]

Commodities are mostly lower this morning this morning, while the dollar index is up a modest 0.1%
Gold and silver have been in the red all day and continue to show weakness
June gold is now -0.6% at $1285.90/oz, May silver is-1.2% at $19.36/oz.
May copper is back in the red and is now -0.1% at $3.04/oz
Energy and mixed after WTI crude oil rallied this morning and natural gas sold off
May crude is now +0.1% at $104.41/barrel. May natural gas is -0.4% at $4.72/MMBtu

10:05 am: [BRIEFING.COM] The Leading Indicators report for March increased 0.8%. That followed a 0.5% increase in February, and was in-line with the Briefing.com consensus estimate.

The major indices were at session highs just before the release and have held that posture. Would note they are starting to push an area of technical resistance in the 1872/1874 zone, which marks last week's recovery highs. How things act there could set the stage for an extension or retracement of the early gains.

9:40 am: [BRIEFING.COM] A subdued but slightly higher start for the cash market as expected. No real strength to speak of from a sector standpoint, but everything, except the consumer staples sector (-0.3%), is drifting higher.

Kimberly-Clark (KMB 110.67, -1.87) is one of the drags on the staples as it trades lower despite beating the Capital IQ consensus EPS estimate by a penny and reaffirming its FY14 guidance.

The Leading Indicators report for March will be released at the top of the hour. The Briefing.com consensus estimate is calling for a 0.8% increase.

9:14 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +1.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +5.80. The S&P futures have fallen off their best levels of the morning in what has been an otherwise narrow trading range. At the moment, they are trading close to fair value and are presaging a relatively flattish start for the cash market.

8:59 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +0.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +5.30. Equity futures point to small gains at the open.

Asian markets finished mixed amid a quiet overnight trade.

Economic data from the region was limited to Japan's trade balance, which posted a record March trade deficit of JPY1.71 trln (JPY1.27 trln expected, JPY1.18 trln previous) on a 1.8% rise in exports and 18.1% jump in imports.

Japan's Nikkei (UNCH) finished flat as trade was unable to retake the 200 dma.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was closed for Easter.
China's Shanghai Composite (-1.5%) slipped back below the 50 dma as trade closed at a two-week low.
India's Sensex (+0.6%) rallied to all-time highs. B
Australia's ASX was closed in observance of Easter.

Markets across Europe remain closed for Easter.

8:31 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +2.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +7.80. The futures market continues to point to a slightly higher open for the cash market. There has been a hodgepodge of headlines that have been primarily company specific. Accordingly, with European markets still closed for the Easter holiday, there has been a fairly subdued tone thus far. One item that should be drawing some attention throughout the day amid the earnings news is the report that Pfizer (PFE) may be considering a $100 bln offer for AstraZeneca (AZN).

8:01 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +3.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +8.30. U.S equity futures show a slightly positive bias coming off last week's striking turnaround rally. Trading activity was fairly subdued in Asia and major European bourses remain closed following the Easter holiday.

Reviewing overnight developments:

Asian markets ended mixed. Japan's Nikkei -0.03%, China's Shanghai Composite -1.5%, and South Korea's Kospi -0.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng CLOSED.
Economic data was limited:
Japan's trade balance -JPY1446 billion (prior deficit of JPY800 billion) as exports rose 1.8% (last 9.8%) while imports increased 18.1% (prior 9.0%).
In news:
Bloomberg.com reports regulators will start reviewing IPO plans this week, triggering concerns about new supply that weighed on the Shanghai Composite
CNBC, citing Japan's Nikkei, notes Japan's ruling party is considering raising the ceiling on interest rates charged to borrowers
Major European indices are closed for Easter Monday.
There was no economic data reported
Among news of note:
Armed conflict reported in Eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian nationalists

In U.S. corporate news:

AstraZeneca (AZN 68.00, +4.50): Trading 7% higher on CNBC report that Pfizer (PFE 30.72, +0.47) mulling $100 bln offer for company
AMD (AMD 3.94, +0.25): Trading nearly 7% higher after beating by two cents and guiding Q2 revenues above the Capital IQ consensus estimate
Halliburton (HAL 61.33, +0.43): Up modestly after beating Capital IQ consensus EPS estimate by a penny and guiding Q2 in line
Hasbro (HAS 54.61): Topped first quarter consensus EPS estimate by four cents
Kimberly-Clark (KMB 112.54): Beat Capital IQ consensus estimate by a penny, reaffirmed FY14 guidance, and said it expects the spin off of its healthcare business to be completed by Q3/Q4

The Leading Indicators report for March will be released at 10:00 ET

7:29 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +2.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.30.

6:54 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +2.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.00.

6:54 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Nikkei...14512.38...-3.90...0.00. Hang Seng...Holiday.........

6:54 am: [BRIEFING.COM] FTSE...Holiday......... DAX...Holiday.........

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

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