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 @ $0.00 dollars or +0.00 points, Emini ES ($ES_F) futures @ $1,125.00 dollars or +22.50 points, Light Crude Oil CL ($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 @ $1,125.00 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

Trade Log: 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 in ##TheStrategyLab chat room involving WRBs, WRB Hidden GAPs, Key Market Events (KME), Tutorial Chapters 2 & 3, WRB Zones, Reaction Highs/Lows, Contracting Volatility or Expanding Volatility. Its all archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=141&t=2031


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

Analysis -----> Trade Signals

Trade Signal Strategies via Volatility Trading Report (VTR) @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/VolatilityTrading.htm and there's a free trade signal strategy @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewforum.php?f=89 so that you can freely test drive one of our price action trade strategies with support (answering your questions) prior to purchasing the Volatility Trading Report (VTR). All WRB Analysis Tutorial Chapters 1 - 12 are included in the purchase of the Volatility Trading Report (VTR).

Trading Plan Daily Routine @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=259&t=2687

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Market Context Summaries

The below summaries by Bloomberg, Briefing, Reuters and Yahoo! Finance helps me to do a quick review of the fundamentals, FED/ECB/BOE/IMF actions or any important global economic events (e.g. Eurozone, MarketWatch.com) that had an impact on today's price action in many trading instruments I monitor during the trading day. Simply, I'm a strong believer that key market events causes key changes in supply/demand and volatility resulting in trade opportunities (swing points and strong continuation price actions) that reach profit targets. Thus, I pay attention to these key market events, intermarket analysis (e.g. Forex EurUsd, EuroFX 6E futures, Gold GC futures, Light Crude Oil (WTI) CL & Brent Oil futures, Eurex DAX futures, Euronext FTSE100 futures, Emini ES futures, Emini TF futures, Treasury ZB futures and U.S. Dollar Index futures) while using WRB Analysis from one trade to the next trade to give me the market context for price action trading before the appearance of my technical analysis trade signals. Therefore, I maintain these archives 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.


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


4:10 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The stock market ended the Thursday session on a mixed note. The S&P 500 lost 0.5% after spending the entire session in negative territory while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq extended this week's gain to 2.5% while the S&P 500 will enter the Friday session up 1.7% for the week.

Yesterday's dovish FOMC policy statement pressured the greenback, but the Dollar Index (99.23, +0.67) wasted no time, stringing together a swift comeback. The index added 0.7% today and returned to Tuesday's low. Notably, the euro retraced the bulk of yesterday's move, returning below 1.0650 versus the dollar.

Likewise, the dollar strength weighed on crude oil, sending the energy component lower by 2.5% to $45.50/bbl. In turn, this kept the energy sector (-1.7%) near the bottom of the barrel while the other commodity-related sector-materials (-1.7%)-finished just behind energy. Steelmakers kept the sector pressured after Nucor (NUE 46.11, -3.16) cut its guidance well below analyst estimates. Shares of NUE tumbled 6.4% while Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 31.07, -1.10) fell 3.4%.

Elsewhere among cyclical sectors, industrials (-0.7%) and financials (-1.0%) struggled while consumer discretionary (-0.2%) and technology (-0.2%) displayed relative strength.

The largest sector by weight-technology-spent the day near its flat line as heavyweights like Apple (AAPL 127.50, -0.97), Google (GOOGL 563.67, -2.49), and Facebook (FB 82.75, +1.84)traded in mixed fashion while chipmakers outperformed with the PHLX Semiconductor Index adding 0.2%.

Conversely, the relative strength gave a boost to the Nasdaq, but the index also received significant support from biotechnology. Biogen Idec (BIIB 433.65, +5.72) jumped 1.3% after Credit Suisse raised its price target for the stock to $500 from $400 while the broader iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 365.25, +7.11) spiked 2.0%, logging its sixth consecutive advance.

In addition to boosting the Nasdaq, biotechnology helped the health care sector (+0.5%) finish well ahead of other groups. The countercyclical sector extended its week-to-date gain to 3.7%, overtaking the utilities sector (-1.0%), which narrowed its weekly gain to 3.3%.

Treasuries retraced a portion of yesterday's advance with the 10-yr yield spiking five basis points to 1.97%.

Today's participation was a bit light with roughly 715 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data included Initial Claims, Current Account Balance, Leading Indicators, and Philadelphia Fed Survey:

The initial claims level increased to 291,000 from an upwardly revised 290,000 (from 289,000) while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase to 293,000
There were no special factors impacting this week's claims reading
The current account deficit for the fourth quarter totaled $113.50 billion while the Briefing.com consensus expected the deficit to hit $105.00 billion
The third quarter deficit was revised to $98.90 billion from $100.30 billion
The Philadelphia Fed's Business Outlook Survey dropped slightly to 5.0 in March from 5.2 in February while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase to 6.9
While the overall index was virtually unchanged from a month ago, the underlying details showed that a stark weakness developed over the past few weeks
Shipments-or production-moved into a deep contraction in March as the related index dropped to -7.8 from +8.1 in February.
New orders growth slowed as that index fell to 3.9 in March from 5.4 in February. Unfilled orders entered an even larger contraction, dropping from +7.3 in February to -13.8 in March.
The Leading Indicators report for February was up 0.2%, which is what the Briefing.com consensus expected

There is no economic data on tomorrow's schedule.

Nasdaq Composite +5.4% YTD
Russell 2000 +4.1% YTD
S&P 500 +1.5% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +0.8% YTD

3:40 pm: [BRIEFING.COM]

Natural gas slid lower today and remained weak after reporting bearish natural gas data from the EIA
Ultimately, Apr nat gas closed $0.10 lower at $2.82/MMBtu
WTI crude oil futures dropped following yesterday's Fed-fueled rally
May crude ended today's session $1.17 lower at $45.50/barrel
The dollar index remained strong today, but this didn't affect metals much
Apr gold closed $18.20 higher at $1169.30/oz, while May silver finished $0.60 higher at $16.13/oz
Copper was strong today... May contract gained $0.10 to $2.66/lb

2:55 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 trades lower by 0.5% with one hour remaining in the trading day. The benchmark index notched its session low shortly ahead of 12:00 ET and has spent the afternoon within several points of that mark. Despite today's decline, the index is on track to enter the Friday session with a week-to-date gain of 1.9%.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq (+0.3%) outperforms today, which is a dynamic that has held true throughout the week. The tech-heavy index is on track to enter tomorrow's session higher by 2.6% for the week.

A handful of companies will report their results following the closing bell with Nike (NKE 97.93, +0.42) headlining the list.

2:25 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices remain near their recent levels with the S&P 500 (-0.5%) having spent the past three hours in a six-point range. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq (+0.2%) is defending a modest gain, which is largely due to the unyielding strength within the biotechnology space.

The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 364.83, +6.69) has extended its advance to 1.9% with help from its top-weighted component. Biogen Idec (BIIB 435.28, +7.35) has jumped 1.7% after Credit Suisse raised its price target for the stock to $500 from $400. Conversely, the strength has pushed the health care sector (+0.5%) to a fresh session high.

On a separate note, the Dollar Index (99.40, +0.85) has extended to a new high for the day.

1:55 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 remains within several points of its session low.

There was another small improvement in labor market conditions last week.

The initial claims level increased to 291,000 for the week ending March 14 from an upwardly revised 290,000 (from 289,000) for the week ending March 7. The Briefing.com Consensus expected the initial claims level to increase to 293,000.

There were no special factors impacting this week's claims reading.

After averaging more than 300,000 over the past 5 weeks, the dip in claims may be signaling a return to a more relaxed trend. Labor market conditions are showing small signs of improvement.

1:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Stocks have pushed off their intra-day lows, led by gains in the health care sector (0.5%). The major U.S. indices appeared to gain some traction after headlines suggested the Bank of Japan will raise its economic assessment.

While WTI crude oil (-3% to $45.25) has bounced off recent lows, natural gas (-4.6% to $2.78/mmbtu) has slumped to set new session lows. The weakness in those commodity prices has kept energy (-1.6%) as today's worst performing S&P sector.

At the top of the hour, the Treasury auctioned off $13 bln in 10-year TIPS which saw a high yield of 0.200% and a bid-to-cover of 2.43. Indirect bidders accounted for 75.7% of accepted offers.

12:55 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The major averages are mixed at midday with the Nasdaq (unch) holding a slim gain while the Dow (-0.7%) and S&P 500 (-0.6%) trade near their session lows.

Yesterday's dovish policy statement from the FOMC weighed on the greenback, sending the Dollar Index (99.30, +0.75) to levels last seen at the start of the month; however, that weakness was short lived and the index has fought back to its low from Tuesday. Currently, the Index is higher by 0.8% with the euro trading near 1.0640 after sliding from yesterday's high near 1.1050.

Similarly, today's return of dollar strength has weighed on crude oil, sending the energy component into the lower half of yesterday's trading range. At this juncture, WTI crude is lower by 3.2% at $45.17/bbl while the energy sector (-1.8%) sits at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Likewise, three of the remaining five cyclical sectors trail the broader market with industrials (-1.0%) and financials (-1.2%) showing losses in the neighborhood of 1.0%, which has kept the S&P 500 in the red.

On the flip side, health care (+0.3%) holds a modest gain with biotechnology largely responsible for the strength. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 363.08, +4.94) is higher by 1.3% as it looks to register its sixth consecutive advance.

Elsewhere, the technology sector (-0.1%) also trades ahead of the S&P 500, but the top-weighted group has not been able to stay out of the red. Large cap names like Apple (AAPL 127.86, -0.61) and Facebook (FB 82.72, +1.81) trade mixed while chipmakers outperform with the PHLX Semiconductor Index higher by 0.3%.

Treasuries spent the morning in narrow ranges before sliding to lows in recent action. The 10-yr yield is higher by five basis points at 1.97%.

Economic data included Initial Claims, Current Account Balance, Leading Indicators, and Philadelphia Fed Survey:

The initial claims level increased to 291,000 from an upwardly revised 290,000 (from 289,000) while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase to 293,000
There were no special factors impacting this week's claims reading
The current account deficit for the fourth quarter totaled $113.50 billion while the Briefing.com consensus expected the deficit to hit $105.00 billion
The third quarter deficit was revised to $98.90 billion from $100.30 billion
The Philadelphia Fed's Business Outlook Survey dropped slightly to 5.0 in March from 5.2 in February while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase to 6.9
While the overall index was virtually unchanged from a month ago, the underlying details showed that a stark weakness developed over the past few weeks
Shipments-or production-moved into a deep contraction in March as the related index dropped to -7.8 from +8.1 in February.
New orders growth slowed as that index fell to 3.9 in March from 5.4 in February. Unfilled orders entered an even larger contraction, dropping from +7.3 in February to -13.8 in March.
The Leading Indicators report for February was up 0.2%, which is what the Briefing.com consensus expected

12:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices remain near their recent levels with the S&P 500 lower by 0.6%.

Yesterday, the Dollar Index (99.31, +0.76) surrendered its entire March gain in reaction to the policy statement from the FOMC, but the Index has reclaimed the bulk of that loss and now trades in the neighborhood of its session low from Tuesday.

The volatile action in the dollar has led to sharp swings among other major currencies. For instance, the euro rallied from 1.0580 to 1.1050 yesterday, but the single currency has returned into the 1.0630 area today.

Elsewhere, Treasuries have tumbled to new lows, pushing the 10-yr yield higher by five basis points to 1.97%.

11:55 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Recent action saw the S&P 500 (-0.6%) slide to a fresh low, leaving the health care sector (+0.2%) as the only advancing sector.

On the downside, energy has widened its decline to 1.6% even though crude oil has climbed off its morning low, narrowing its loss to 2.1% at $45.69/bbl. Meanwhile, the other commodity-related sector-materials (-1.6%)-trades just ahead amid broad weakness. Chemical producers like Monsanto (MON 115.60, -1.56) and Dow Chemical (DOW 46.54, -1.00) hold respective losses of 1.4% and 2.1% while steelmakers also lag with Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 31.30, -0.87) trading lower by 2.7%.

Elsewhere among cyclical groups, the financial sector (-1.3%) has surrendered its March advance as investors continue pricing in the diminished likelihood of a fed funds rate hike in 2015. The economically-sensitive sector is now down 1.7% since the end of last year.

11:25 am: [BRIEFING.COM] The major averages remain near their recent levels with the Dow (-0.4%) and S&P 500 (-0.3%) trailing the Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%).

Eight sectors continue showing losses while health care (+0.4%) and technology (+0.2%) hang on to slim gains. Biotechnology has underpinned the health care sector since the start with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 362.28, +4.14) working on its sixth consecutive advance.

For its part, the technology sector has drawn strength from several large cap names like Cisco Systems (CSCO 28.54, +0.39), Intel (INTC 30.99, +0.10), Microsoft (MSFT 42.53, +0.03), and Facebook (FB 82.70, +1.79).

Similar to Intel, most other chipmaker names sport gains with the PHLX Semiconductor Index trading higher by 0.3%.

10:55 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices continue hovering near their opening levels with the Nasdaq (+0.1%) just above its flat line while the S&P 500 trades lower by 0.4%.

The energy sector (-1.4%) remains at the bottom of the leaderboard while a couple other influential sectors like financials (-1.0%) and industrials (-0.5%) also trail the broader market. That being said, technology (unch), health care (unch), and consumer discretionary (-0.1%) continue trading ahead of the broader market. It is worth noting the three outperformers account for roughly 45.0% of the market.

Elsewhere, Treasuries remain just above their lowest levels of the day with the 10-yr yield higher by two basis points at 1.94%.

10:35 am: [BRIEFING.COM]

Following yesterday's Fed-driven rally, oil futures lose steam and give back some gains
Oil futures have been trading in the red today (both WTI and Brent) following big gains yesterday.
In other energy, heating oil and RBOB futures are also trading lower
Currently, May crude oil is -3.1% at $45.20/barrel
Ahead of the weekly EIA natural gas storage data, Apr nat gas was about 2.5% lower
Following the data, which showed a smaller-than-expected draw, Apr nat gas dropped to a new low for today at $2.79/MMBtu
in current trade, Apr nat gas is -4% at $2.80/MMBtu
Some strength in the dollar index is helping weigh on energy futures this morning
However, this is doing nothing to metals such as gold, silver and copper, all of which is trading higher today
Apr gold is currently +1.3% at $1166.20/oz, while May silver is now +3.1% at $16.03/oz
Apr copper +2.9% at $2.65/lb

10:00 am: [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 trades lower by 0.3%.

Just released, the Leading Indicators report for February was up 0.2%, which is what the Briefing.com consensus expected. That followed an unrevised 0.2% increase in January.

Separately, the Philadelphia Fed Survey for March slipped to 5.0 from 5.2. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that the Survey would improve to 6.9.

9:40 am: [BRIEFING.COM] The major averages began the day on a mixed note. The Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%) sits just above its flat line while the S&P 500 trades lower by 0.3% with eight sectors in the red.

Commodity-related energy (-1.5%) and materials (-1.0%) are the two weakest sectors in the early going with energy pressured by crude oil, which trades lower by 3.3% at $45.12/bbl.

On the upside, technology (+0.2%) and health care (+0.2%) have displayed early strength with health care underpinned by biotechnology. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 362.36, +4.22) trades up 1.2%, which has contributed to the early strength in the Nasdaq.

Treasuries remain near their lows with the 10-yr yield higher by two basis points at 1.94%.

February Leading Indicators (expected 0.2%) and March Philadelphia Fed Survey (consensus 6.9) will both be released at 10:00 ET.

9:12 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -5.10. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +3.60. The stock market is on track for a modestly lower open as futures on the S&P 500 hover five points below fair value.

Yesterday, the benchmark index surged 1.2% in reaction to a dovish policy statement from the FOMC. That move was accompanied by a pullback in the greenback that sent the Dollar Index (98.89, +0.34) back to levels last seen at the start of the month; however, the index has rebounded and is now back to last week's levels.

On a related note, crude oil spike yesterday, but the energy component has retraced more than half of that move and currently trades lower by 3.7% at $44.93/bbl.

Treasuries hold slim losses after rallying yesterday with the 10-yr yield higher by two basis points at 1.94%.

On the corporate front, homebuilder Lennar (LEN 51.50, +1.78) is on course to open higher by 3.6% after beating earnings and revenue estimates. On the flip side, eBay (EBAY 57.00, -1.43) has given up 2.4% in pre-market after Piper Jaffray downgraded the stock to 'Underweight' from 'Neutral.'

February Leading Indicators (expected 0.2%) and March Philadelphia Fed Survey (consensus 6.9) will both be released at 10:00 ET.

8:55 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -6.10. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -0.20. The S&P 500 futures trade six points below fair value.

Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region finished higher on Thursday, rising in the wake of Wall Street's rally following the Federal Open Market Committee's policy announcement, which was widely regarded as dovish. The Nikkei (-0.5%) was a notable exception as a stronger yen following the FOMC decision detracted from buying interest.

In economic data:
Japan's March Tankan Index rose to 16 from 11 while All Industries Activity Index +1.9% month-over-month (expected 1.7%; last -0.1%)
South Korea's February PPI +0.1% month-over-month (previous -1.2%); -3.6% year-over-year (consensus -1.5%; prior -3.6%)
New Zealand's Q4 GDP rose 0.8% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.7%; last 1.0%); +3.5% year-over-year (consensus 3.3%, previous 3.2%)

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Japan's Nikkei declined 0.5% with a stronger yen weighing on sentiment. The financial (-0.7%), consumer cyclical (-0.7%), and communications (-0.6%) sectors paced the losses. Leading decliners included Mitsumi Electric Co (-3.7%), Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd (-3.4%), Alps Electric Co (-3.2%), Kirin Holdings (-3.0%), and Taiyo Yuden Co (-2.9%). Among the 225 index members, 68 closed higher, 149 ended lower, and 8 were unchanged.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.5% in a broad-based advance that included gains for every sector and saw the index close at its highs for the day. The communications (+2.3%) and consumer cyclical (+2.2%) sectors led the way. Top gainers included Tencent Holdings (+6.7%), Link REIT (+5.2%), Wharf Holdings (+4.4%), Galaxy Entertainment (+3.4%), and Sands China (+3.3%). Among the 50 index members, 43 closed higher, 5 finished lower, and 2 were unchanged.
China's Shanghai Composite increased 0.1%, bolstered by strength in the technology (+2.3%) and basic materials (+1.5%) that helped offset weakness in the financial (-0.9%), consumer non-cyclical (-0.8%), and consumer cyclical (-0.7%) sectors. Henan Zhongyuan Expressway Co (+10.1%) led all individual gainers while Shanghai U9 Game Co (-7.3%) paced the losers.

Major European indices trade mostly higher with Italy's MIB (+1.2%) in the lead. According to Reuters, Greek Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis said liquidity has become a problem and Greece will need cooperation with the EU to address the issue.

Economic data was limited:
Swiss trade surplus narrowed to CHF2.47 billion from CHF3.41 billion (expected surplus of CHF2.87 billion)

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Germany's DAX is lower by 0.3%, but 2/3 of the index trades in the green. K+S is the weakest performer, down 3.5%, while Commerzbank and Deutsche Lufthansa outperform with respective gains of 1.4% and 2.7%.
UK's FTSE trades up 0.1% with miners in the lead. Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Fresnillo, and Randgold Resources hold gains between 2.2% and 5.4%.
In France, the CAC has added 0.1% with help from financials. BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, and Societe Generale are up between 1.0% and 1.8% while defense contractors lag. Airbus Group is lower by 1.0% and Safran trades down 0.5%.
Italy's MIB has climbed 1.2% amid strength in financials. BMPS, Banca Pop Emilia Romagna, UBI Banca, Unicredit, and Banco Popolare hold gains between 1.7% and 2.7%.

8:32 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -4.10. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +2.70. The S&P 500 futures trade four points below fair value.

The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 291,000 while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 293,000. Today's tally was above the revised prior week count of 290,000 (from 289,000). As for continuing claims, they fell to 2.417 million from 2.428 million.

The current account deficit for the fourth quarter totaled $113.50 billion while the Briefing.com consensus expected the deficit to hit $105.00 billion. The third quarter deficit was revised to $98.90 billion from $100.30 billion.

7:58 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -1.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.70. U.S. equity futures hold slim pre-market losses following yesterday's broad-based surge that sent the S&P 500 higher by 1.2%. The S&P 500 futures hover one point below fair value.

The Dollar Index (98.78, +0.22) plunged shortly after yesterday's cash close, but is now back at levels seen two weeks ago. Meanwhile, crude oil is lower by 3.4% at $43.13/bbl after retracing half of yesterday's spike.

Treasuries hover in the red with the 10-yr yield higher by nearly two basis points at 1.94%.

Weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 293K) and Q4 Current Account Balance (consensus -$105.00 billion) will be reported at 8:30 ET while February Leading Indicators (expected 0.2%) and March Philadelphia Fed Survey (consensus 6.9) will both be released at 10:00 ET.

In U.S. corporate news of note:

Biogen Idec (BIIB 434.00, +6.07): +1.4% after Credit Suisse raised its price target to $500 from $400.
eBay (EBAY 56.93, -1.49): -2.6% after Piper Jaffray downgraded the stock to 'Underweight' from 'Neutral.'
Guess? (GES 18.75, +2.01): +12.0% after better than expected earnings overshadowed cautious guidance.
Lennar (LEN 50.30, +0.58): +1.2% after beating earnings and revenue estimates.

Reviewing overnight developments:

Asian markets ended mostly higher. China's Shanghai Composite +0.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng +1.5%, and Japan's Nikkei -0.4%.
In economic data:
Japan's March Tankan Index rose to 16 from 11 while All Industries Activity Index +1.9% month-over-month (expected 1.7%; last -0.1%)
South Korea's February PPI +0.1% month-over-month (previous -1.2%); -3.6% year-over-year (consensus -1.5%; prior -3.6%)
New Zealand's Q4 GDP rose 0.8% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.7%; last 1.0%); +3.5% year-over-year (consensus 3.3%, previous 3.2%)
In news:
The Reserve Bank of Australia released its quarterly bulletin, noting that the slowdown in China's property market has occurred amid an increase in leverage among property developers.

Major European indices trade mostly higher. Germany's DAX -0.1%, UK's FTSE +0.2%, and France's CAC +0.2%. Elsewhere, Italy's MIB +1.2% and Spain's IBEX +0.7%.
Economic data was limited:
Swiss trade surplus narrowed to CHF2.47 billion from CHF3.41 billion (expected surplus of CHF2.87 billion).
Among news of note:
The Swiss National Bank kept its key interest rate at -0.75%, as expected.
According to Reuters, Greek Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis said liquidity has become a problem and Greece will need cooperation with the EU to address the issue.

5:51 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -3.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +1.80.

5:51 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Nikkei...19476.56...-67.90...-0.40%. Hang Seng...24468.89...+348.80...+1.50%.

5:51 am: [BRIEFING.COM] FTSE...6967.22...+22.00...+0.30%. DAX...11936.34...+13.60...+0.10%.

Special thanks to Bloomberg, Briefing, 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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