TheStrategyLab.com Price Action Trading Support Forum

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

Price Action Trade Performance for Today: Emini RTY ($RTY_F) futures @ $0.00 dollars or +0.00 points, Emini ES ($ES_F) futures @ $0.00 dollars or +38.75 points, Light Crude Oil CL ($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 @ $0.00 dollars

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

Russell 2000 Emini RTY Futures: 1 tick or 0.10 = $5.00 dollars and there's more contract information @ CMEGroup (formerly as TF @ The ICE)
S&P 500 Emini ES Futures: 1 tick or 0.25 = $12.50 dollars and there's more contract information @ CMEGroup
Light Crude Oil CL (WTI) Futures: 1 tick or 0.01 = $10.00 dollars and there's more contract information @ CMEGroup
Gold GC Futures: 1 tick or 0.10 = $10.00 dollars and there's more contract information @ CMEGroup
EuroFX 6E Futures: 1 tick or 0.0001 = $12.50 dollars and there's more contract information @ CMEGroup

Today's Trade Log: All of my live trades are posted real-time in the timestamp ##TheStrategyLab free chat room via the user name wrbtrader for anyone to do a real-time review. The live trade is posted 3.2 seconds on average after the trade confirmation via an auto script to minimize delays in posting of my trades. You can review today's price action trade journal about my trades (e.g. time, price entry, contract size, price exit, market analysis) as the trade traversed to its completion. In addition, sometimes I'll post real-time trading tips in the free ##TheStrategyLab chat room involving WRBs, WRB Hidden GAPs, Key Market Events (KME), Tutorial Chapters 2 & 3, WRB Zones, Reaction Highs/Lows, Contracting Volatility or Expanding Volatility even though the free chat room is not design to be an education chat room because the education is only performed at the forums in the private threads. Its all archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=170&t=2635

##TheStrategyLab Chat Room is free. The free chat room is not a signal calling trading room. I do not mentor (never have) although I get many requests to do mentoring. There is education but only in members private threads at the forum involving members asking questions (help) about their own trading. Thus, the primary purpose of TheStrategyLab free chat room is for you to use as your trade journal so that you can use as valuable feedback and for members to help each other...as in more eyes on the market. In addition, we highly recommend that you use the free chat room with a professional trade journal software like tradebench.com, edgewonk.com, tradervue.com, tradingdiarypro.com, stocktickr.com, journalsqrd.com, tradingdiary.pro, mxprofit.com or trademetria.com because they can provide you with the quantitative statistical analysis of your trading. You can then download your results and post them in your private thread at the forum. Also, you can use TheStrategyLab free chat room to ask real-time WRB Analysis questions. Yet, please do not post your brokerage statements in the free chat room. Instead, its highly recommended that you only post your brokerage statements in your private thread for security reasons. TheStrategyLab free chat room is on IRC via users request because the IRC servers are located in many different countries, software in many different languages, many different mobile apps and many different types of social media software can be used to log in. I'm the moderator of the free chat room via the user name wrbtrader. Thus, I keep the peace between members without hesitation in removing trouble makers so that members can peacefully post their market observations, trades, WRB Analysis commentary about the markets without being trolled.

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


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

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

Analysis -----> Trade Signals

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

Daily Trading Plan Routine @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=327&t=3486 contains brief information about trading plan, market context, brokers, trading time frames, position size management and other discussions.

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

Market Context Summaries

The below summaries by Bloomberg, Briefing, Reuters and Yahoo! Finance helps me to do a quick review of the fundamentals, FED/ECB/BOE/IMF actions or any important global economic events (e.g. Eurozone, MarketWatch.com) that had an impact on today's price action in many trading instruments I monitor during the trading day. Simply, I'm a strong believer that key market events causes key changes in supply/demand and volatility resulting in trade opportunities (swing points and strong continuation price actions) that reach profit targets. Thus, I pay attention to these key market events, intermarket analysis (e.g. Forex EurUsd, EuroFX 6E futures, Gold GC futures, Light Crude Oil (WTI) CL & Brent Oil futures, Eurex DAX futures, Euronext FTSE100 futures, Emini ES futures, Emini TF futures, Treasury ZB futures and U.S. Dollar Index futures) while using WRB Analysis from one trade to the next trade to give me the market context for price action trading before the appearance of my technical analysis trade signals. Therefore, I maintain these archives for easy review to allow me to understand what was happening on any given trading day in the past involving key market events to help better understand my trade decisions (day trading, swing trading, position trading)...something I can not get from my broker PnL statements alone. Further, most financial websites remove (delete) their archives after a few years to make room for new content. Therefore, I maintain my own archives of the news content so that I have it available for me when financial websites no longer archives their content.


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

The Market at 04:25PM ET
Dow: +55.67… | Nasdaq: +60.35… | S&P: +14.06…
NASDAQ Vol: 1.87 bln… Adv: 1907… Dec: 909…
NYSE Vol: 941.7 mln… Adv: 2136… Dec: 761…

Moving the Market

Rate-hike expectations remain subdued following a tepid increase in the core PCE Price Index for the month of July (+0.1%)

Health care sector rallies once again after closing above its 50-day simple moving average for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday

Heavily-weighted financial sector underperforms, keeps broader market's gain in check

Sector Watch
Strong: Health Care, Materials, Technology
Weak: Financials, Industrials, Consumer Staples, Utilities, Telecom Services, Real Estate
04:25PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Equities moved higher once again on Thursday, extending the S&P 500's winning streak to five sessions in a row. The Russell 2000 (+1.0%) and the Nasdaq (+1.0%) finished comfortably ahead of the benchmark S&P 500 (+0.6%) while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.3%) underperformed. For the month, the benchmark index ticked up 0.1%.

Investors were happy to dial back their rate-hike expectations on Thursday following yet another tepid inflationary report. The latest reading of the core PCE Price Index showed that consumer prices decelerated on a year-over-year basis in July--dropping to +1.4% from +1.5% in June--and remain well below the Fed's longer run target of 2.0%.

Treasury yields ended the day lower across the curve following Thursday's economic data with the benchmark 10-yr yield dropping two basis points to 2.12%. Likewise, the U.S. Dollar Index (92.61, -0.23) slipped, losing 0.3%. As for the fed funds futures market, the implied probability of a December rate hike now sits at 36.4%, slightly lower than where it stood at this time last week (38.7%).

In the equity market, nine of the eleven sectors settled the day in positive territory with the influential health care group (+1.7%) leading the charge after closing above its 50-day simple moving average (919.36) for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday. Biotech names showed particular strength, sending the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 333.35, +9.03) higher by 2.8%.

Like the health care space, the top-weighted technology sector (+0.7%) also finished ahead of the broader market on Thursday as Apple (AAPL 164.00, +0.65) added another 0.4% to settle August with a monthly gain of 10.3%. The tech sector was the top-performer in the month of August, climbing 3.2% to extend its year-to-date advance to 25.3%.

The lightly-weighted materials space (+0.7%) also outperformed on Thursday, but the remaining advancers finished with gains of no more than 0.5%. On the flip side, the heavily-weighted financial space (unch) settled with the telecom services sector (-0.5%) at the bottom of the sector standings, extending its monthly loss to 1.9%.

Elsewhere, crude oil climbed 2.6% to $47.14/bbl, breaking its four-session losing streak. Tropical Storm Harvey remains a key factor in the crude and gasoline futures market as it has forced the closure of many refineries along the Texas coast. Thursday reports indicate that Motiva Enterprises' Port Arthur refinery, the biggest in Texas, may be shut down for up to two weeks.

Political news was fairly light on Thursday, but Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin did say the White House has a "very detailed" tax plan ready that will be released to the public by the end of September.

Reviewing Thursday's economic data, which included July Personal Income, Personal Spending, core PCE Prices, Initial Claims, August Chicago PMI, and July Pending Home Sales:

Personal income ticked up 0.4% in July (Briefing.com consensus +0.3%) after an unrevised reading of 0.0% for June. Personal spending rose 0.3% (Briefing.com consensus +0.4%), while the prior month's reading was revised to 0.2% from 0.1%. The core PCE Price Index, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.1% (Briefing.com consensus +0.1%).
The key takeaway from the report was that inflation pressures remained subdued, which suggests to market participants that expectations for another rate hike this year can also remain subdued.
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 236,000, as expected. Today's tally was above the revised prior week count of 235,000 (from 234,000). As for continuing claims, they declined to 1.942 million from an unrevised count of 1.954 million.
This report marks the 130th straight week that initial claims have been below 300,000, which is reflective of an environment in which employers are reluctant to let go of their workers.
Chicago PMI for August hit 58.9, unchanged from July and in line with the Briefing.com consensus.
All of the barometer components, with the exception of employment, were above their year-ago levels.
Pending Home Sales for July declined 0.8% (Briefing.com consensus +0.5%). Today's reading follows a revised 1.3% increase in June (from +1.5%).

On Friday, the Employment Situation Report for August will be released at 8:30 ET and has the power to jolt, or further dampen, the chances of a December rate hike. The Briefing.com consensus expects that the report will show the addition of 183,000 nonfarm payrolls, an increase of 0.2% in average hourly earnings, and an unemployment rate of 4.3%.

In addition, investors will receive several other pieces of economic data on Friday, including the August ISM Manufacturing Index (Briefing.com consensus 56.8), July Construction Spending (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%), and the final reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for the month of August (Briefing.com consensus 97.1)--all of which will be released at 10:00 ET.

Also of note, August auto and truck sales will be released throughout the day.

Nasdaq Composite +19.4% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +11.1% YTD
S&P 500 +10.4% YTD
Russell 2000 +3.6% YTD

Dow: +55.67… | Nasdaq: +60.35… | S&P: +14.06…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1907/909. …NYSE Adv/Dec 2136/761.

03:35PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Commodities end the day higher:

Overall, commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, are currently up 1.91% at 84.6565
Dollar index is down 0.22% at 92.68.
Oct WTI crude is higher on the day.
Futures settled $1.18 higher to $47.14/barrel.
In other energy, Oct natural gas settled up $0.09 at $3.03/MMBtu
On to metals:
Dec gold gained $9.50 to settle at $1323.30/oz, while Sept silver gained $0.17 to $17.57/oz
Sept copper settled flat at $3.10/lb
Finally, agriculture:
Dec corn is $0.13 higher at $3.58/bu.
Nov soy is higher $0.14 at $9.46/bu.
Dec wheat is higher $0.05 at $4.34/bu.

Dow: +79.1… | Nasdaq: +60.85… | S&P: +16.23…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 2099/799. …NYSE Adv/Dec 2167/745.

02:55PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Equities enter the final hour of trading at their best marks of the day, putting the S&P 500 (+0.6%) on track for its fifth-consecutive win.

The Employment Situation Report for August will be released tomorrow morning at 8:30 ET and has the power to jolt, or further dampen, the chances of a December rate hike. The Briefing.com consensus expects that the report will show the addition of 183,000 nonfarm payrolls, an increase of 0.2% in average hourly earnings, and an unemployment rate of 4.3%.

In addition, investors will receive several other pieces of economic data on Friday, including the August ISM Manufacturing Index (Briefing.com consensus 56.8), July Construction Spending (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%), and the final reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for the month of August (Briefing.com consensus 97.1)--all of which will be released at 10:00 ET.

Dow: +67.95… | Nasdaq: +58.57… | S&P: +14.73…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 2089/803. …NYSE Adv/Dec 2124/764.

02:30PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The Nasdaq (+0.8%) and the Russell 2000 (+0.9%) continue to trade comfortably ahead of the benchmark S&P 500 (+0.4%) while the Dow (+0.1%) continues to underperform.

Apple (AAPL 163.77, +0.43)--the largest company in the S&P 500 by market cap--has added over 10.0% this month, extending its year-to-date gain to an impressive 41.4%. The tech giant has definitely impressed on the earnings front this year, but a lot of the bullish bias has been in anticipation of the new iPhone 8, which is expected to be unveiled at a product event on September 12.

The top-weighted technology sector has made the most of Apple's positive performance and looks poised to snag the top spot in this month's sector standings as it currently holds a month-to-date gain of 3.2%. For the year, the tech group is the top-performing sector by a comfortable margin, sporting a year-to-date gain of 25.2%.

Dow: +33.23… | Nasdaq: +51.49… | S&P: +11.55…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 2054/824. …NYSE Adv/Dec 2071/833.

02:00PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices continue drifting near their recent levels with the S&P 500 showing a gain of 0.5%.

Nine of the eleven sectors are trading in positive territory this afternoon with the health care (+1.3%) and telecom services (-0.4%) groups hovering at opposite ends of the day's leaderboard. The heavily-weighted financial sector (-0.1%) has struggled all session, keeping a lid on the broader market's gain. Meanwhile, the top-weighted technology space (+0.7%) continues to outperform.

Elsewhere, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 10.63, -0.59) has dropped 5.3% in today's session, hitting a fresh three-week low.

Dow: +34.88… | Nasdaq: +50.37… | S&P: +11.14…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 2050/808. …NYSE Adv/Dec 2064/830.

01:35PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The major U.S. indices are holding firm in positive territory following this morning's slate of economic data.

A look inside the Dow Jones Industrial Average shows that Pfizer (PFE 33.98, +0.53), DuPont (DD 84.48, +1.29), & General Electric (GE 24.64, +0.36) are outperforming amid broad market strength. GE is advancing following a Reuters report this morning that the company is planning a wave of job cuts as part of an effort to reduce costs.

Conversely, Walt Disney (DIS 101.38, -1.49) is the worst-performing Dow component following a Wall Street Journal report that the company is planning 'significant budget cuts' at its Disney/ABC Television Group.

At current levels, the DJIA is poised to end August having gained 0.15%.

Dow: +37.98… | Nasdaq: +52.21… | S&P: +11.10…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 2074/799. …NYSE Adv/Dec 2063/808.

01:00PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Equities are rallying once again today, putting the S&P 500 on track for its fifth-consecutive win ahead of tomorrow's Employment Situation Report for August, which the Briefing.com consensus expects will show the addition of 183,000 nonfarm payrolls. The Nasdaq (+0.9%) and the Russell 2000 (+1.0%) are leading today's advance while the S&P 500 (+0.5%) and the Dow (+0.2%) struggle to keep pace.

Investors have benefited today from the notion that the Fed won't be in a hurry to hike interest rates again this year following yet another tepid inflationary reading; the core PCE Price Index, which was released this morning, added just 0.1% in July, as expected. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the implied probability of a December rate hike now sits at just 31.5%, down from 38.7% last week.

Nearly all sectors are trading in the green this afternoon with the influential health care group (+1.3%) leading the charge after closing above its 50-day simple moving average (919.36) for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday. Biotech names show particular strength, sending the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 331.38, +7.06) higher by 2.2%.

The top-weighted technology sector (+0.7%) is also trading ahead of the broader market amid broad strength, further padding its margin of victory for the month. The sector currently holds a month-to-date gain of 3.2%. For comparison, the health care group is in second place on the August leaderboard with a gain of 2.7% and the benchmark S&P 500 trades flat.

On the flip side, the financials (-0.1%), consumer staples (unch), utilities (+0.1%), and telecom services (-0.3%) groups are underperforming. Within the financial space, Wells Fargo (WFC 50.98, -0.37) shows relative weakness, losing 0.7%, following reports that around 3.5 million customer accounts were potentially unauthorized in last year's selling scandal, over a million more than initially announced.

In the bond market, U.S. Treasuries are trading mostly flat with the 2-yr Treasury note showing relative strength; the 2-yr yield is down one basis point at 1.32% while the benchmark 10-yr yield is unchanged at 2.13%. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index (92.86, +0.02) is trading flat after an unsuccessful attempt to extend yesterday's bounce-back performance.

Crude oil is trading solidly higher this afternoon, up 2.6% at $47.16/bbl. The commodity has declined for four sessions in a row amid demand concerns related to Tropical Storm Harvey, which has forced the closure many oil refineries along the Texas coast. Reports indicate that Motiva Enterprises' Port Arthur refinery, the biggest in Texas, may be shut down for up to two weeks.

Also of note, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that the White House has a "very detailed" tax plan ready that will be released to the public by the end of September.

Reviewing Thursday's economic data, which included July Personal Income, Personal Spending, core PCE Prices, Initial Claims, August Chicago PMI, and July Pending Home Sales:

Personal income ticked up 0.4% in July (Briefing.com consensus +0.3%) after an unrevised reading of 0.0% for June. Personal spending rose 0.3% (Briefing.com consensus +0.4%), while the prior month's reading was revised to 0.2% from 0.1%. The core PCE Price Index, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.1% (Briefing.com consensus +0.1%).
The key takeaway from the report was that inflation pressures remained subdued, which suggests to market participants that expectations for another rate hike this year can also remain subdued.
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 236,000, as expected. Today's tally was above the revised prior week count of 235,000 (from 234,000). As for continuing claims, they declined to 1.942 million from an unrevised count of 1.954 million.
This report marks the 130th straight week that initial claims have been below 300,000, which is reflective of an environment in which employers are reluctant to let go of their workers.
Chicago PMI for August hit 58.9, unchanged from July and in line with the Briefing.com consensus.
All of the barometer components, with the exception of employment, were above their year-ago levels.
Pending Home Sales for July declined 0.8% (Briefing.com consensus +0.5%). Today's reading follows a revised 1.3% increase in June (from +1.5%).

Dow: +42.45… | Nasdaq: +53.99… | S&P: +11.78…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 2110/757. …NYSE Adv/Dec 2107/760.

12:25PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The Nasdaq (+0.9%) is trading at a fresh session high, extending its week-to-date gain to 2.5%.

Rate-hike expectations have been dialed back slightly following this morning's batch of economic data, which included yet another tepid inflationary reading; the core PCE Price Index ticked up just 0.1% in July (Briefing.com consensus +0.1%). According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the implied probability of a December rate hike now sits at just 31.5%, down from 38.7% last week.

U.S. Treasuries are currently trading mixed; the 2-yr yield is up one basis point at 1.34% while the 10-yr yield is down one basis point at 2.13%. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index (92.80, -0.04) has retreated to its flat line after holding a gain as high as 0.5% this morning.

Dow: +45.27… | Nasdaq: +54.74… | S&P: +11.92…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 2149/702. …NYSE Adv/Dec 2152/706.

11:55AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The equity market remains near its opening level moving into the afternoon. Small caps are outperforming, evidenced by the small-cap Russell 2000, which is trading higher by 0.9%.

Given the fact that smaller companies typically have little to no international presence--and therefore depend heavily on domestic consumers--the Russell 2000 is seen as a leading indicator, meaning it tends to do well (or poorly) when the outlook for the U.S. economy is deemed favorable (or bleak). Despite today's positive performance, the Russell 2000 still holds a month-to-date loss of 1.5%.

Conversely, another leading indicator--the Dow Jones Transportation Average--is struggling today. The DJTA is currently down 0.1% with C.H. Robinson (CHRW 71.29, -1.76) leading the retreat, retracing a portion of its big four-day advance of 9.3%. For the month, however, the DJTA is higher by 1.3%.

Dow: +38.23… | Nasdaq: +44.07… | S&P: +9.94…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 2151/710. …NYSE Adv/Dec 2111/718.

11:25AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks have continued trending sideways in recent action, leaving the major averages near their recent levels. The Dow is up 0.2%.

Within the Dow, health care names Pfizer (PFE 33.91, +0.46) and UnitedHealth (UNH 198.13, +2.25) are the strongest components, adding 1.4% and 1.1%, respectively. On the flip side, Walt Disney (DIS 101.82, -1.06) is the weakest Dow component, dropping 1.0%, following reports that the company is preparing a series of layoffs, the majority of which will come from the ABC division.

Elsewhere, crude oil is trading solidly higher this morning, up 2.8% at $51.76/bbl. The commodity has declined for four sessions in a row amid demand concerns related to Tropical Storm Harvey, which has forced the closure many oil refineries along the Texas coast. Recent reports indicate that Motiva Enterprises' Port Arthur refinery, the biggest in Texas, may be shut down for up to two weeks.

Dow: +43.03… | Nasdaq: +40.32… | S&P: +9.96…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 2107/741. …NYSE Adv/Dec 2072/736.

10:55AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices haven't deviated much from their opening levels this morning as the S&P 500 (+0.4%) eyes its fifth-consecutive victory.

The influential health care sector (+0.9%) is pacing today's rally after settling above its 50-day simple moving average (919.36) for the first time in three-weeks on Wednesday. Nearly all of the sector's components are trading in positive territory with biotech names showing particular strength, pushing the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 329.39, +5.07) higher by 1.5%. In addition to the health care group, eight other sectors are trading in the green with gains ranging from 0.1% to 0.6%.

On the flip side, the heavily-weighted financial space (unch) is trading near the bottom of today's leaderboard. Wells Fargo (WFC 51.05, -0.30) exhibits particular weakness after reporting that around 3.5 million customer accounts were potentially unauthorized in last year's selling scandal, over a million more than initially announced. WFC shares are lower by 0.6%.

Dow: +32.25… | Nasdaq: +33.31… | S&P: +8.67…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 2038/760. …NYSE Adv/Dec 2040/738.

10:30AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Commodities rally to begin the day:

Overall, commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, are currently up 1.13% at 84.011
Dollar index is currently up 0.17% at 93.04.
Oct WTI crude is rallying this morning following a spike about ten minutes before the opening bell.
Futures are $1.27 higher to $47.23/barrel.
In other energy, Oct natural gas is down $0.014 at $2.925/MMBtu
Metals seeing strength across the board:
Dec gold has gained $3.30 and trades at $1317.40/oz, while Dec silver is up $0.032 to $17.535/oz
Sept copper has gained $0.0165 to $3.081/lb
Finally, agriculture:
Dec corn is up $0.05 at $3.504/bu.
Nov soy is up $0.116 at $9.45/bu.
Dec wheat is up $0.024 at $4.35/bu.

Dow: +73.86… | Nasdaq: +38.74… | S&P: +11.49…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1997/749. …NYSE Adv/Dec 2059/683.

10:00AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages continue hovering near their opening levels with the S&P 500 sporting a gain of 0.4%.

Just released, Pending Home Sales for July declined 0.8% (Briefing.com consensus +0.5%). Today's reading follows a revised 1.3% increase in June (from +1.5%).

Dow: +61.86… | Nasdaq: +33.00… | S&P: +9.46…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1924/734. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1982/673.

09:45AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The major U.S. indices opened Thursday's session in the green with the S&P 500 sporting a gain of 0.4%.

All sectors are currently trading higher, but gains have been pretty modest thus far with no sector adding more than 0.7%. The consumer discretionary (+0.5%), materials (+0.6%), and health care (+0.7%) groups exhibit relative strength while the consumer staples (unch) and telecom services (+0.1%) spaces exhibit relative weakness.

Just reported, Chicago PMI for August hit 58.9, unchanged from July and in line with the Briefing.com consensus.

Dow: +76.89… | Nasdaq: +29.09… | S&P: +9.63…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1900/664. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1968/639.

09:12AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +5.60. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +12.40.

The S&P 500 is well positioned to extend its four-session winning streak this morning as the S&P 500 futures currently trade six points, or 0.2%, above fair value.

Investors received several pieces of economic data earlier this morning, including July Personal Income, July Personal Spending, July core PCE Prices, and weekly Initial Claims:

Personal income ticked up 0.4% in July (Briefing.com consensus +0.3%) after an unrevised reading of 0.0% for June.
Personal spending rose 0.3% (Briefing.com consensus +0.4%), while the prior month's reading was revised to 0.2% from 0.1%.
The core PCE Price Index, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.1% (Briefing.com consensus +0.1%).
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 236,000, as expected. Today's tally was above the revised prior week count of 235,000 (from 234,000). As for continuing claims, they declined to 1.942 million from an unrevised count of 1.954 million.

Equity futures didn't shift much in the wake of the readings, but U.S. Treasuries ticked up a bit, sending the benchmark 10-yr yield back to its unchanged mark (2.13%). The 10-yr yield was hovering at 2.14% ahead of the economic releases. Meanwhile, the 2-yr yield held its ground following the readings and is currently up one basis point at 1.34%.

Investors will receive two additional pieces of economic data on Thursday--August Chicago PMI (Briefing.com consensus 58.9) and July Pending Home Sales (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%). The two reports will be released at 9:45 ET and 10:00 ET, respectively.

In U.S. corporate news, Dollar General (DG 73.40, -3.33) and Campbell Soup (CPB 46.99, -3.26) have dropped 4.3% and 6.5%, respectively, after delivering their latest earnings reports. Campbell Soup missed both top and bottom line estimates and issued disappointing guidance. However, Dollar General reported above-consensus earnings and in-line revenues.

Also of note, crude oil is currently up 0.9% at $46.35/bbl, looking to break its four-session losing streak, which was prompted by the closing of refineries along the Texas coast in response to Tropical Storm Harvey.

08:51AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +4.60. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +14.10.

The S&P 500 futures trade five points, or 0.2%, above fair value.

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended Thursday on a mixed note. Market participants received a heavy batch of economic data, headlined by above-consensus August Manufacturing PMI from China (51.7; expected 51.3; last 51.4). However, Non-Manufacturing PMI declined to 53.4 in August from 54.5 in July. Press reports from China indicated the country's government plans to continue restructuring state-owned enterprises in the steel sector. The Bank of Korea left its repurchase rate unchanged at 1.25%, as expected.

In economic data:
China's August Manufacturing PMI 51.7 (expected 51.3; last 51.4) and August Non-Manufacturing PMI 53.4 (last 54.5)
Japan's July Industrial Production -0.8% month-over-month (expected -0.5%; last 2.2%). July Housing Starts -2.3% year-over-year (consensus -0.3%; last 1.7%) and July Construction Orders +14.9% year-over-year (last 2.3%)
South Korea's July Industrial Production +1.9% month-over-month (last -0.5%); +0.1% year-over-year (last -0.5%). Retail Sales +0.2% month-over-month (last 1.2%)
Australia's Q2 Private New Capital Expenditure +0.8% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.3%; last 0.9%). July Private Sector Credit +0.5% month-over-month, as expected (last 0.6%).
New Zealand's August ANZ Business Confidence 18.3 (last 19.4)

---Equity Markets---

Japan's Nikkei climbed 0.7%. JFE Holdings, Chugai Pharmaceuticals, Kobe Steel, Fujifilm Holdings, Yamaha, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, NGK Insulators, Tokyo Electron, and Secom gained between 1.8% and 3.4%. On the downside, Showa Denko, Konami, Mitsubishi Materials, Mitsubishi Electric, Yokohama Rubber, and TOTO lost between 0.5% and 3.8%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.4% amid losses in half of its components. China Mobile sank 6.2% while financials like China Construction Bank, ICBC, BoC Hong Kong, China Life Insurance, and Bank of China lost between 0.5% and 2.8%. On the upside, property names like Wharf Holdings, SHK Properties, New World Development, Sino Land, Hang Lung Properties, and Henderson Land advanced between 0.7% and 2.8%.
China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.1%. Shanghai Wanye Enterprises, Zhejiang Orient Holdings, Sany Heavy Industries, Sinomach Automobile, Luoyang Glass, and China Railway Tielong Container Logistics posted losses between 2.4% and 3.0%.
India's Sensex added 0.3%. Tech consultant Wipro led the way, jumping 2.5%. Peer Tata Consultancy rose 0.4% while Infosys lost 1.2%. Financials were mixed as HDFC Bank and SBI both added near 0.2% while AXIS Bank and ICICI Bank lost 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively.

Major European indices trade higher across the board with Italy's MIB (+1.0%) displaying relative strength. British Prime Minister Theresa May said she plans to hold her post past the next parliamentary election, which isn't scheduled until 2022. There has been some speculation that the prime minister could step down after Brexit is completed. Swiss National Bank Governor Andrea Maechler said the franc has continued to evolve in a narrow band, but negative rates and the readiness to intervene in the FX market are still needed.

In economic data:
Eurozone August CPI +1.5% year-over-year (expected 1.4%; last 1.3%) and Core CPI +1.2% year-over-year, as expected (last 1.2%). July Unemployment Rate held at 9.1%, as expected
Germany's August Unemployment Change -5,000 (expected -6,000; last -9,000). August Unemployment Rate held at 5.7%, as expected. July Retail Sales -1.2% month-over-month (expected -0.4%; last 1.3%); +2.7% year-over-year (consensus 3.5%; last 2.6%)
Italy's August CPI +0.3% month-over-month (expected 0.2%; last 0.1%); +1.2% year-over-year (consensus 1.1%; last 1.1%). July Unemployment Rate 11.3% (expected 11.1%; last 11.2%)
France's August CPI +0.5% month-over-month, as expected (last -0.3%). July PPI +0.1% month-over-month (last -0.4%)
Spain's June Current Account surplus EUR1.41 billion (previous surplus of EUR2.57 billion). July Retail Sales +1.1% year-over-year (consensus 2.4%; last 2.3%)

---Equity Markets---

Germany's DAX is higher by 0.6% with most components on the rise. Lufthansa, Merck, and Adidas are up between 1.4% and 2.2% while financials like Commerzbank, Allianz, and Deutsche Bank show gains between 0.5% and 1.2%. Automakers lag with BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen falling between 0.4% and 0.7%.
UK's FTSE has climbed 0.7% with miners pacing the move. Antofagasta, Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Glencore, and BHP Billiton show gains between 1.4% and 3.6%. Financials like Prudential, Aviva, RSA Insurance, HSBC, Old Mutual, and RBS are up between 0.4% and 1.7%.
France's CAC trades up 0.7%. ArcelorMittal leads with a gain of 2.3% while financials Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, and AXA are up between 0.9% and 1.9%. Consumer stocks like Kering, Louis Vuitton, Accor, and L'Oreal show gains between 0.7% and 1.6% while Carrefour has slid 13.7% in reaction to weak results and guidance.
Italy's MIB outperforms with a gain of 1.0%. Exor, Saipem, Fiat, STMicroelectronics, and Telecom Italia lead, rising between 2.2% and 4.4%. Bank stocks also display strength with FinecoBank, Mediobanca, UBI Banca, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco Bpm, UniCredit, and Banca Mediolanum advancing between 1.4% and 1.7%.

08:35AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +3.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +10.60.

The S&P 500 futures trade four points, or 0.2%, above fair value.

Just in, personal income ticked up 0.4% in July (Briefing.com consensus +0.3%) after an unrevised reading of 0.0% for June. Personal spending rose 0.3% (Briefing.com consensus +0.4%), while the prior month's reading was revised to 0.2% from 0.1%. The core PCE Price Index, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.1% (Briefing.com consensus +0.1%).

Separately, the latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 236,000, as expected. Today's tally was above the revised prior week count of 235,000 (from 234,000). As for continuing claims, they declined to 1.942 million from an unrevised count of 1.954 million.

07:55AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +3.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +10.00.

Wall Street rallied on Wednesday, helped by a positive batch of economic data--which included both a better than expected ADP National Employment Report and an above-consensus second estimate of second quarter GDP. The positive sentiment has carried over into Thursday morning, sending the S&P 500 futures four points (0.2%) above fair value, as investors await the next round of economic reports.

Thursday's economic calendar will feature July Personal Income (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%), Personal Spending (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%), and core PCE Prices (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%), all of which will be released at 8:30 ET. The PCE Price Index will be of particular interest as it's the Fed's preferred metric for measuring inflation and, therefore, could impact rate-hike expectations.

Investors will also receive the weekly Initial Claims Report (Briefing.com consensus 236K) at 8:30 ET, Chicago PMI for the month of August (Briefing.com consensus 58.9) at 9:45 ET, and the July Pending Home Sales Report (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%) at 10:00 ET.

U.S. Treasuries are trading modestly lower this morning, sending the benchmark 10-yr yield one basis point higher to 2.14%. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index (93.16, +0.32) is up 0.3%, extending yesterday's bounce-back performance. The greenback is up 0.3%, 0.5%, and 0.3%, respectively, against the euro (1.1848), the pound (1.2865), and the yen (110.56).

Crude oil is up 0.5% at $46.21/bbl, looking to break its four-session losing streak, which was prompted by the closing of refineries along the Texas coast in response to Tropical Storm Harvey.

In U.S. corporate news:

Dollar General (DG 75.10, -1.63): -2.1% despite reporting above-consensus earnings and in-line revenues.
Costco (COST 156.50, +2.06): +1.3% after reporting an increase of 7.3% in comparable same-store sales for the month of August.
Campbell Soup (CPB 48.00, -2.25): -4.5% after missing both top and bottom line estimates and issuing disappointing guidance.

Reviewing overnight developments:

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended Thursday on a mixed note. Japan's Nikkei +0.7%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.4%, China's Shanghai Composite -0.1%, India's Sensex +0.3%.
In economic data:
China's August Manufacturing PMI 51.7 (expected 51.3; last 51.4) and August Non-Manufacturing PMI 53.4 (last 54.5)
Japan's July Industrial Production -0.8% month-over-month (expected -0.5%; last 2.2%). July Housing Starts -2.3% year-over-year (consensus -0.3%; last 1.7%) and July Construction Orders +14.9% year-over-year (last 2.3%)
South Korea's July Industrial Production +1.9% month-over-month (last -0.5%); +0.1% year-over-year (last -0.5%). Retail Sales +0.2% month-over-month (last 1.2%)
Australia's Q2 Private New Capital Expenditure +0.8% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.3%; last 0.9%). July Private Sector Credit +0.5% month-over-month, as expected (last 0.6%).
New Zealand's August ANZ Business Confidence 18.3 (last 19.4)
In news:
Market participants received a heavy batch of economic data, headlined by above-consensus August Manufacturing PMI from China (51.7; expected 51.3; last 51.4). However, Non-Manufacturing PMI declined to 53.4 in August from 54.5 in July.
Press reports from China indicated the country's government plans to continue restructuring state-owned enterprises in the steel sector.
The Bank of Korea left its repurchase rate unchanged at 1.25%, as expected.

Major European indices trade higher across the board. Germany's DAX +0.6%, UK's FTSE +0.7%, France's CAC +0.8%, Italy's MIB +1.0%.
In economic data:
Eurozone August CPI +1.5% year-over-year (expected 1.4%; last 1.3%) and Core CPI +1.2% year-over-year, as expected (last 1.2%). July Unemployment Rate held at 9.1%, as expected
Germany's August Unemployment Change -5,000 (expected -6,000; last -9,000). August Unemployment Rate held at 5.7%, as expected. July Retail Sales -1.2% month-over-month (expected -0.4%; last 1.3%); +2.7% year-over-year (consensus 3.5%; last 2.6%)
Italy's August CPI +0.3% month-over-month (expected 0.2%; last 0.1%); +1.2% year-over-year (consensus 1.1%; last 1.1%). July Unemployment Rate 11.3% (expected 11.1%; last 11.2%)
France's August CPI +0.5% month-over-month, as expected (last -0.3%). July PPI +0.1% month-over-month (last -0.4%)
Spain's June Current Account surplus EUR1.41 billion (previous surplus of EUR2.57 billion). July Retail Sales +1.1% year-over-year (consensus 2.4%; last 2.3%)
In news:
British Prime Minister Theresa May said she plans to hold her post past the next parliamentary election, which isn't scheduled until 2022. There has been some speculation that the prime minister could step down after Brexit is completed.
Swiss National Bank Governor Andrea Maechler said the franc has continued to evolve in a narrow band, but negative rates and the readiness to intervene in the FX market are still needed.

05:53AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +6.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +18.90.
05:53AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Nikkei

...19646...+139.70

...+0.70%

Hang Seng

...27970...-124.30

...-0.40%

05:53AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] FTSE

...7406.57...+41.30

...+0.60%

DAX

...12069.60...+67.10

...+0.60%

04:25PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The equity market rallied on Wednesday as investors continued to buy the dip that pulled the major U.S. indices from their all-time highs earlier this month. The S&P 500 (+0.5%) registered its fourth-consecutive victory, marking its longest winning streak in three months, and settled above its 50-day simple moving average (2,451.08). The Nasdaq (+1.1%) outperformed while the Dow (+0.1%) lagged.

Wednesday's session began in the wake of a strong batch of economic data, which included both a better than expected ADP National Employment Report (237,000 actual vs 180,000 Briefing.com consensus) and an above-consensus second estimate of second quarter GDP (3.0% actual vs 2.7% Briefing.com consensus).

Stocks opened the session relatively flat as investors took a moment to digest the hotter than expected reports--weighing the thought of economic growth against the thought that said growth might help justify a further tightening of monetary policy. The bulls eventually won out and then led a slow and steady climb into the afternoon.

Biotechnology stocks showed notable strength throughout the session, evidenced by the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 324.32, +6.50), which settled higher by 2.1%. Incyte (INCY 138.27, +13.30) led the biotech rally, jumping 10.6%, following news that the company, and partner Eli Lilly (LLY 80.49, +1.94), will resubmit a new drug application for baricitinib by the end of January 2018.

The influential health care sector (+0.6%), which houses biotech names, finished a step ahead of the broader market, near the top of the leaderboard. The top-weighted technology sector (+0.8%) also outperformed, as did the consumer discretionary (+0.7%) and materials (+0.7%) groups.

Within the tech space, chipmakers exhibited notable strength, sending the PHLX Semiconductor Index higher by 1.7%. Analog Devices (ADI 83.72, +4.17) led the semiconductor rally after beating both top and bottom line estimates and issuing above-consensus guidance. ADI shares climbed 5.2% to a fresh three-month high.

On the flip side, select countercyclical sectors underperformed, including consumer staples (unch), utilities (-0.4%), and telecom services (-0.6%). The energy sector (unch), which is considered to be a cyclical group, also struggled as the price of crude oil dropped for the fourth session in a row.

The commodity held a modest gain in the early afternoon, but moved sharply lower following an EPA announcement approving emergency fuel waivers for Gulf and East Coast states in response to Tropical Storm Harvey. WTI crude futures finished lower by 0.6% at a price of $45.96/bbl.

In the bond market, U.S. Treasuries finished the midweek session on a flattish note with the benchmark 10-yr yield settling unchanged at 2.14%. Meanwhile, the 2-yr yield climbed one basis point to 1.33% after trading as high as 1.35% in the morning session.

Also of note, the U.S. Dollar Index (92.86, +0.59) climbed 0.6% after touching a multi-year low on Tuesday and the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 11.20, -0.50) dropped 4.3%.

Reviewing Wednesday's economic data, which included the ADP Employment Change Report for August, the second estimate of second quarter GDP, and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index:

The ADP National Employment Report showed an increase of 237,000 in August (Briefing.com consensus 180,000) while the July reading was revised higher to 201,000 from 178,000.
The second estimate of second quarter GDP pointed to an expansion of 3.0%, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 2.7%. The first estimate came in at 2.6% last month.
The key takeaway from the report is that it was driven by a pickup in both consumer and business spending, which is typically a good mix for accelerating economic growth.
The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index dropped 2.3% to follow last week's 0.5% decrease.

On Thursday, investors will receive a slew of economic reports, including July Personal Income (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%), Personal Spending (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%), and core PCE Prices (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%) at 8:30 ET, Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 236K) also at 8:30 ET, August Chicago PMI (Briefing.com consensus 58.9) at 9:45 ET, and July Pending Home Sales (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%) at 10:00 ET.

Nasdaq Composite +18.3% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +10.8% YTD
S&P 500 +9.8% YTD
Russell 2000 +2.5% YTD

Dow: +27.06… | Nasdaq: +66.42… | S&P: +11.29…

NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1708/1073. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1826/1095.

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M.A. Perry
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