TheStrategyLab.com Price Action Trading Support Forum

Price Action Trade Results of M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body/bar analysis)
TheStrategyLab Price Action Trading (no technical indicators)
wrbtrader (more info about me): http://www.thestrategylab.com/wrbtrader.htm & http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=127&t=850
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
Users Reviews, Accolades (Testimonials): http://www.thestrategylab.com/Accolades.htm
Review of TheStrategyLab: http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=3167 & 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)
Telephone: +1 708 572-4885
wrbanalysis@gmail.com (24/7)
Stocktwits @ http://stocktwits.com/wrbtrader (24/7)
Twitter @ http://twitter.com/wrbtrader (24/7)


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

Price Action Trade Performance for Today: Emini RTY ($RTY_F) futures @ $0.00 dollars or +0.00 points, Emini ES ($ES_F) futures @ $2312.50 dollars or +46.25 points, Light Crude Oil CL ($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 @ $2312.50 dollars

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 & Price Action Analysis is archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=2814

All of my trades are posted real-time at the above link for today's archive chat log in the timestamp ##TheStrategyLab free chat room via the user name wrbtrader for anyone to do a real-time review (you must be a member of the chat room for a real-time review). Although the trades and price action analysis are posted by me and other users of WRB Analysis in real-time...review of TheStrategyLab is that this is not a signal calling chat room nor is this a live trading room that has a head trader telling you what to do. I'm the moderator (I keep the peace between members) and my own live trades are posted within 3.2 seconds on average after the trade confirmation in my broker trade execution platform 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), WRB Zones, Reaction Highs/Lows, Contracting Volatility or Expanding Volatility...all key concepts from the WRB Analysis free study guide 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.

##TheStrategyLab Chat Room is free. The free chat room is not a signal calling trading room nor is it a live trading room with a head trader even though members of the chat room are posting their trades & market analysis in real-time. 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 about your own trading 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 quantitative statistical analysis, brokerage statements in the free chat room. Instead, its highly recommended that you only post that particular information in your private thread for security reasons. Yet, if you want to post that type of information at another website, blog or chat room...that's your choice.

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, many different types of social media software can be used to log in along with IRC being easier to moderate via script codes when trouble makers, spammers and trolls show up. 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 problematic traders so that members can peacefully post their market observations, trades, WRB Analysis commentary about the markets without being trolled or harassed.

TheStrategyLab free chat room is not for traders looking for someone to hold their hands and tell them when to buy or sell nor do we allow the free chat room to be used for mentoring because we do not offer a mentoring service. The purpose of 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. If you join the free chat room and then you decide to not post any WRB Analysis about the price action or you decide to not post your trades or you decide to be silent (lurk without saying a word about today's markets)...you're not using the free chat room properly to help improve your trading.

In fact, we do not want silent (lurkers) traders to join the free chat room unless they are actively posting at the forum about their trading after the markets close. Access instructions for the free 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=350&t=3706 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 RTY 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 discussed by members of TheStrategyLab chat room or private thread discussions

The Market at 04:30PM ET
Dow: +5.17… | Nasdaq: -12.75… | S&P: -5.94…
NASDAQ Vol: 2.3 bln… Adv: 1013… Dec: 1815…
NYSE Vol: 856.8 mln… Adv: 1190… Dec: 1703…

Moving the Market

Stocks rebound sharply off session lows; S&P 500 breaks back above 200-day MA

Heavily-weighted financial sector underperforms as yields decline across the curve

Investors cautious ahead of tomorrow's release of the April jobs report

Sector Watch
Strong: Materials, Technology, Industrials
Weak: Financials, Health Care

04:30PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks got off to a bad start on Thursday, but rebounded sharply in the afternoon to end the session little changed. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite settled a tick lower, losing 0.2% apiece, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished flat, and the Russell 2000 underperformed, losing 0.5%.

It looked like things might get ugly shortly after the opening bell, as the S&P 500 quickly dropped below its 200-day moving average, losing as much as 1.6%. The financial sector led that initial slide, with AIG (AIG 51.94, -2.90) showing particular weakness after missing earnings estimates for the first quarter; AIG shares ended the session lower by 5.3%.

Stocks drifted near their lows of the day for a couple of hours before the technology and materials sectors led a sharp move higher. The tech group was helped by chipmakers, especially NVIDIA (NVDA 232.99, +6.68), which climbed 3.0% after being upgraded to 'Overweight' from 'Equal Weight' at Barclays. Meanwhile, the materials group did relatively well even though its top component by market cap -- DowDuPont (DWDP 63.47, -0.02) -- struggled to advance after releasing its first quarter earnings -- which came in better-than-expected. DWDP shares ended flat.

The S&P 500 did touch positive territory at the top of that intraday rally, but slipped into the close -- possibly due to the uncertainty surrounding Friday's release of the Employment Situation Report for April. The report always has market-moving potential, but it may carry some extra weight this time around considering Treasury yields aren't far off from multi-year highs. The benchmark 10-yr yield, for instance, finished at 2.95% on Thursday -- which is about eight basis points below the more than four-year high it hit last week.

Tesla (TSLA 284.45, -16.70) received a lot of attention in the media on Thursday after its CEO, Elon Musk, unconventionally dismissed analysts' questions in the company's earnings call, calling them "boring"; shares of Tesla ended lower by 5.6%. On the upside, shares of Kellogg (K 58.15, +1.50) and Kraft Heinz (KHC 54.95, +0.75) rallied 2.7% and 1.4%, respectively, after both companies reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter.

In the end, three S&P sectors finished Thursday in the green -- industrials (+0.2%), materials (+0.3%), and technology (+0.3%) -- while eight finished in the red. The heavily-weighted financials and health care groups were the weakest performers, losing 0.9% apiece, but no other laggard lost more than 0.4%.

Investors received a big batch of economic data on Thursday that included the preliminary readings for first quarter Productivity and Unit Labor Costs, the March Trade Balance report, weekly Initial Claims, March Factory Orders, and the ISM Services Index for April:

The preliminary unit labor costs rose 2.7% during the first quarter, while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 3.0%. The preliminary productivity reading showed an increase of 0.7%, while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 0.8%.
The key takeaway from the report is that productivity is improving, yet it is still running at relatively weak levels. On a year-over-year basis, productivity was up 1.3% versus the 0.7% annual average for 2007 to 2017. The long-term average from 1947 to 2017 is 2.1%.
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 211,000, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 220,000. Today's tally was above the unrevised prior week count of 209,000. As for continuing claims, they declined to 1.756 million from a revised count of 1.833 million (from 1.837 million).
The key takeaway from the report is that it continues to underscore a condition of tightening supply in the labor market.
The March trade balance showed a deficit of $49.0 billion (Briefing.com consensus -$49.8 billion). The February deficit was revised to $57.7 billion from $57.6 billion.
The key takeaway from the report is that it will continue to feed the Trump Administration's trade fire as goods deficits were recorded with China, the EU, Mexico, Japan, Germany, OPEC, and Canada.
The ISM Services Index for April slipped to 56.8 (Briefing.com consensus 58.3) from an unrevised reading of 58.8. in March.
The key takeaway from the report is that it will feed into the slowdown narrative that has been building with the flattening yield curve, even though there is still broad-based strength in the components that drive the overall index reading. Separately, all 18 non-manufacturing industries reported growth in April.
The Factory Orders report for March showed an increase of 1.6% (Briefing.com consensus +1.2%). The February reading was revised to +1.6% from +1.2%.
The key takeaway from the report is that it showed a dip in business spending in March, evidenced by the 0.4% decrease in orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft.

Friday's lone economic report -- the Employment Situation report for April -- will be released at 8:30 AM ET.

Nasdaq Composite: +2.7% YTD
Russell 2000: +0.7% YTD
S&P 500: -1.6% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -3.2% YTD

Dow: +5.17… | Nasdaq: -12.75… | S&P: -5.94…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1013/1815. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1190/1703.

03:35PM ET
[BRIEFING.COM]

Commodities finishing the day higher
The Bloomberg Commodity Index is closing out the day +0.2% at 89.67
Among energy...
June WTI crude oil futures settled $0.54 higher at $68.45/barrel
June natural gas futures settled $0.03 lower at $2.72/MMBtu
Looking at metals...
June gold futures rose $7.20 to $1313.00/oz, while June silver futures rose $0.07 to $16.45/oz
June copper futures settled $0.01 higher at $3.08/lb

Dow: +16.47… | Nasdaq: +0.34… | S&P: -4.53…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1083/1748. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1181/1690.

03:05PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The Dow has popped into positive territory in recent trading, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are just a tick lower moving into the final stretch.

Three sectors are in the green -- industrials (+0.5%), materials (+0.6%), and technology (+0.3%) -- while eight are in the red -- financials (-0.9%), consumer discretionary (-0.5%), energy (-0.4%), health care (-0.9%), consumer staples (-0.2%), utilities (-0.3%), telecom services (-0.6%), and real estate (-0.1%).

Looking ahead to tonight's earnings, CBS (CBS 48.63, -0.36), Activision Blizzard (ATVI 64.92, -3.47), Weight Watchers (WTW 69.98, -2.74), Pandora Media (P 5.65, +0.02), and GoPro (GPRO 5.02, +0.06) are set to deliver their quarterly results.
Dow: +24.76… | Nasdaq: -5.21… | S&P: -4.79…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1050/1753. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1251/1606.

02:30PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Slipping into the red again the Dow Jones Industrial Average joins its counterparts in negative territory as the major average now post losses between 0.1% and 0.3% at this juncture.

The S&P 500 sector standings hold a mixed tone with under two hours left on Thursday. The financials (-0.8%) and health care (-0.9%) sectors still lead the retreat, but have eased today's losses of late, with the materials (+0.4%), industrails (+0.2%), and information technology (+0.2%) groups managing to eke out slight gains.

After reporting quarterly results last night, Spotify (SPOT 158.00, -12.00, -7.1%) and Square (SQ 48.26, -0.40, -0.8%) both trade in the red. The former is firmly lower after first quarter subscriber numbers failed to impress the Street with light guidance to boot. The latter also gave disappointing forward guidance and reported higher costs resulting from marketing an product development as the company doubles down on its payment products.
Dow: -15.35… | Nasdaq: -9.03… | S&P: -6.69…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1031/1768. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1258/1597.

02:00PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Reversing its earlier 300+ point slide, the Dow Jones Industrial Average now holds gains of 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 have modestly trimmed their Thursday declines, yet still trade in the red.

Registering its first green close in four trading days gold futures settled up 0.5% at $1,312.70/oz due in part to yesterday's comments out of the FOMC. The Committee didn't appear rushed to hike interest rates, keeping an eye on inflation, which caused a negative reaction in the dollar which in turn helped the yellow metal.

The U.S. Dollar Index is modestly lower today at 92.43 with the greenback displaying weakness against the euro (-0.3% at 1.1988) and the yen (-0.6% at 109.22).
Dow: +31.11… | Nasdaq: -10.33… | S&P: -1.56…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1025/1740. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1283/1542.

01:35PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The major U.S. indices continue to drag in negative territory as stocks stumble in the wake of yesterday's FOMC rate decision.

A look inside the Dow Jones Industrial Average shows that Nike (NKE 67.05, -1.21), Travelers (TRV 126.58, -1.74), & General Electric (GE 13.98, -0.20) are underperforming. Nike is selling off after earnings from competitor Adidas showed the German apparel maker gaining further market share in North America.

Conversely, Boeing (BA 328.96, +4.77) is the best-performing Dow component as industrials display relative strength in the face of broader market weakness.

At current levels, the DJIA is down 1.67% this week.
Dow: -16.39… | Nasdaq: -13.14… | S&P: -6.56…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 952/1815. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1174/1655.

01:05PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks have extended weekly losses today, but have been rebounding sharply in recent trading, making things look a bit better at midday. The S&P 500 is currently down 0.5% after losing as much as 1.6% earlier, while the Nasdaq and the Dow also hold losses of around 0.5% apiece. The S&P 500 breached its 200-day moving average earlier, but is now about 10 points above the key technical level.

Losses are broad with eight of the eleven S&P 500 sectors trading in the red. The financial group is at the back of the pack, down 1.2%, with AIG (AIG 50.75, -4.09) leading the retreat after missing bottom-line estimates for the first quarter; AIG shares are down 7.5%. A decline in Treasury yields is also weighing on the financial space, with the benchmark 10-yr yield down two basis points at 2.94%.

In other earnings news, shares of Tesla (TSLA 278.98, -22.32) are down 7.4% after the electric automaker's upbeat Q1 results were overshadowed by a bizarre earnings call in which CEO Elon Musk dismissed analysts' questions, calling them "boring." Kellogg (K 58.02, +1.37) and Kraft Heinz (KHC 55.44, +1.24), meanwhile, have helped underpin the consumer staples sector (+0.1%) after both companies reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter; Kellogg shares are up 2.4%, and Kraft Heinz shares are up 2.2%.

Shares of Dow component DowDuPont (DWDP 63.22, -0.25) are down 0.4% despite the company's above-consensus Q1 earnings. The materials sector, which houses DowDuPont, is currently the top-performing group though, sporting a gain of 0.4%.

Two days of trade talks between the U.S. and China kicked off today, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He leading their respective teams in the negotiations. President Trump tweeted in regards to the meeting, saying that his team will be seeking a "level playing field on trade."

Reviewing today's economic data, which included the preliminary readings for first quarter Productivity and Unit Labor Costs, the March Trade Balance report, weekly Initial Claims, March Factory Orders, and the ISM Services Index for April:

The preliminary unit labor costs rose 2.7% during the first quarter, while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 3.0%. The preliminary productivity reading showed an increase of 0.7%, while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 0.8%.
The key takeaway from the report is that productivity is improving, yet it is still running at relatively weak levels. On a year-over-year basis, productivity was up 1.3% versus the 0.7% annual average for 2007 to 2017. The long-term average from 1947 to 2017 is 2.1%.
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 211,000, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 220,000. Today's tally was above the unrevised prior week count of 209,000. As for continuing claims, they declined to 1.756 million from a revised count of 1.833 million (from 1.837 million).
The key takeaway from the report is that it continues to underscore a condition of tightening supply in the labor market.
The March trade balance showed a deficit of $49.0 billion (Briefing.com consensus -$49.8 billion). The February deficit was revised to $57.7 billion from $57.6 billion.
The key takeaway from the report is that it will continue to feed the Trump Administration's trade fire as goods deficits were recorded with China, the EU, Mexico, Japan, Germany, OPEC, and Canada.
The ISM Services Index for April slipped to 56.8 (Briefing.com consensus 58.3) from an unrevised reading of 58.8. in March.
The key takeaway from the report is that it will feed into the slowdown narrative that has been building with the flattening yield curve, even though there is still broad-based strength in the components that drive the overall index reading. Separately, all 18 non-manufacturing industries reported growth in April.
The Factory Orders report for March showed an increase of 1.6% (Briefing.com consensus +1.2%). The February reading was revised to +1.6% from +1.2%.
The key takeaway from the report is that it showed a dip in business spending in March, evidenced by the 0.4% decrease in orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft.

Dow: -25.24… | Nasdaq: -11.23… | S&P: -6.73…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 961/1781. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1184/1640.

12:30PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 has come off its session lows, but is still down 1.2%.

Transports are trading roughly in line with the broader market today, evidenced by the Dow Jones Transportation Average, which is down 1.3%. However, within the DJTA, Avis Budget (CAR 43.09, -5.89) has tumbled 12.0% despite reporting better-than-expected earnings and revenues for the first quarter; the company also issued upbeat revenue guidance for FY18.

In Europe, the major stock indices finished Thursday on a lower note, losing between 0.5% and 0.9%.
Dow: -287.67… | Nasdaq: -80.00… | S&P: -30.25…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 704/2040. …NYSE Adv/Dec 876/1945.

11:55AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks continue hovering a step above their lows of the day; the S&P 500 is down 1.3%.

The lightly-weighted real estate group (+0.1%) has popped into positive territory in recent action, but the other S&P 500 sectors are down between 0.1% and 2.1%. The financial sector (-2.1%) is the weakest performer, with Prudential (PRU 96.33, -4.91) showing particular weakness; shares of the insurer are down 5.0% despite the company's better-than-expected first quarter earnings.

Meanwhile, shares of AIG (AIG 49.78, -5.06) are down 9.1% after the company missed profit estimates for Q1.
Dow: -266.32… | Nasdaq: -63.68… | S&P: -26.24…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 738/1994. …NYSE Adv/Dec 897/1902.

11:30AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices are still holding big losses this morning, down more than 1.0% apiece.

The consumer staples sector is outperforming the broader market though, down just 0.3%. Within the group, Kellogg (K 57.60, +0.96) and Kraft Heinz (KHC 55.41, +1.21) are up 1.7% and 2.3%, respectively, after both companies beat earnings estimates for Q1; Kellogg also beat revenue estimates and issued upbeat revenue guidance for FY18.

In the bond market, Treasury yields are still down across the curve, with the benchmark 10-yr yield two basis points below its Wednesday close at 2.94%.
Dow: -319.71… | Nasdaq: -87.50… | S&P: -33.37…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 664/2064. …NYSE Adv/Dec 813/1963.

11:00AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] It's getting ugly on Wall Street this morning, as the S&P 500 has busted through its 200-day moving average for the first time in a month.

The benchmark index has doubled its opening loss -- currently down 1.5% -- with all 11 of its sectors trading in the red. The financials (-1.9%) and health care (-1.9%) sectors are leading the broad-based retreat, while the materials (-0.7%), telecom services (-0.8%), and real estate (-0.2%) groups have held up relatively well.

Rehashing the latest round of earnings, shares of Tesla (TSLA 279.36, -21.75) have dropped 7.3% to a four-week low after the company's upbeat Q1 results were overshadowed by a bizarre earnings call in which CEO Elon Musk dismissed analysts' questions, calling them "boring."
Dow: -391.95… | Nasdaq: -105.66… | S&P: -39.90…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 600/2113. …NYSE Adv/Dec 664/2099.

10:35AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM]

Commodities are beginning the day lower
Overall, commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, are currently -0.2% at 89.29
Dollar index is currently -0.4% at 92.22
Looking at energy...
June WTI crude oil futures are now -$0.55 at $67.38/barrel
In other energy, June natural gas is -$0.05 (-1.7%) at $2.71/MMBtu following EIA data
For the week ending April 27, the EIA reported that nat gas in storage showed a build of 62 Bcf to total working storage of 1,343 Bcf
Moving on to metals...
June gold is currently +$8.30 at $1313.90/oz, while May silver is +$0.10 at $16.48/oz
May copper is now +$0.02 at $3.09/lb

Dow: -319.46… | Nasdaq: -78.50… | S&P: -32.13…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 661/1900. …NYSE Adv/Dec 723/1994.

10:05AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 has trimmed its opening loss to 0.4% from 0.6%.

Just in, the ISM Services Index for April slipped to 56.8 (Briefing.com consensus 58.3) from an unrevised reading of 58.8. in March.

Separately, the Factory Orders report for March showed an increase of 1.6% (Briefing.com consensus +1.2%). The February reading was revised to +1.6% from +1.2%.
Dow: -149.61… | Nasdaq: -16.99… | S&P: -12.23…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1040/1501. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1111/1517.

09:40AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages are lower in the opening minutes, showing losses of around 0.6% apiece.

10 of 11 S&P sectors are in the red, with materials (+0.4%) being the lone exception. Financials (-0.9%), health care (-0.8%), and utilities (-1.0%) are the weakest groups.

As a reminder, March Factory Orders (Briefing.com consensus +1.2%) and the ISM Services Index for April (Briefing.com consensus 58.3) will be released at 10:00 AM ET.
Dow: -156.50… | Nasdaq: -34.64… | S&P: -15.45…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 876/1614. …NYSE Adv/Dec 956/1614.

09:15AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -13.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -38.30.

Equity futures are hovering at overnight lows following a sharp drop about an hour ago, pointing towards a lower start to today's session. The S&P 500 futures are down eight points (-0.3%), the Nasdaq futures are down 25 points (-0.4%), and the Dow futures are down 101 points (-0.4%).

In earnings news, Kellogg (K 59.48, +2.83) and Kraft Heinz (KHC 55.50, +1.30) are up 5.0% and 2.4% in pre-market trading, respectively, after both companies beat earnings estimates for the first quarter; Kellogg also beat revenue estimates and issued upbeat revenue guidance for FY18. Conversely, Tesla (TSLA 279.19, -21.96) is down 7.3% after CEO Elon Musk bizarrely dismissed analysts' questions during the company's earnings call -- which has overshadowed the company's above-consensus earnings and revenues.

Two days of trade talks between the U.S. and China are set to begin today in Beijing. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will lead their respective teams in the negotiations, but the meeting is not expected to produce any immediate headlines.

Investors received several economic reports earlier this morning, including the preliminary readings for first quarter Productivity and Unit Labor Costs, the March Trade Balance report, and weekly Initial Claims:

The preliminary unit labor costs rose 2.7% during the first quarter, while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 3.0%. The preliminary productivity reading showed an increase of 0.7%, while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 0.8%.
The March trade balance showed a deficit of $49.0 billion (Briefing.com consensus -$49.8 billion). The February deficit was revised to $57.7 billion from $57.6 billion.
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 211,000, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 220,000. Today's tally was above the unrevised prior week count of 209,000. As for continuing claims, they declined to 1.756 million from a revised count of 1.833 million (from 1.837 million).

Today's last pieces of data -- March Factory Orders (Briefing.com consensus +1.2%), and the ISM Services Index for April (Briefing.com consensus 58.3) -- will be released at 10:00 AM ET.

08:51AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -13.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -38.50.

The S&P 500 futures are trading 14 points, or 0.5%, below fair value.

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended Thursday on a mixed note while Japan's Nikkei was closed for Constitution Day. U.S. trade negotiators were expected to begin talks with their Chinese counterparts today, but the meeting is not expected to produce immediate headlines. The Reserve Bank of Australia will release its quarterly policy statement and accompanying economic projections on Friday, but no major changes are expected.

In economic data:
Australia's March trade surplus AUD1.53 billion (expected AUD650 million; last AUD1.35 billion). March Building Approvals +2.6% month-over-month (expected 1.0%; last -4.2%) March Imports +1.0% month-over-month (expected 0.0%) and March Exports +1.0% month-over-month (last 0.0%). March Private Housing Approvals +1.1% (last 3.1%). April AIG Service Index 55.2 (last 56.9)
Hong Kong's March Retail Services +11.4% year-over-year (last 29.8%)

---Equity Markets---

Japan's Nikkei was closed.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.3% amid broad weakness. China Resources Land, Hang Lung Properties, Wharf Real Estate, Citic Pacific, Sino Land, ICBC, New World Development, and Link Reit lost between 1.5% and 4.0%.
China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.6%. Shanghai Sanmao Enterprise, Wuhan Yangtze Communication Industry Group, China National Software & Service, Shanghai Diesel Engine, and Hubei Kaile Science & Technology rose between 5.9% and 9.1%.
India's Sensex shed 0.2%. Wipro lost 1.9% while peers Infosys and Tata Consultancy fell 1.3% and 0.4%, respectively. Financials were mixed as Kotak Mahindra Bank dropped 1.9%, HDFC Bank and Yes Bank shed near 0.1% apiece, while SBI, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, and AXIS Bank added between 0.5% and 1.7%.

Major European indices trade in the red with Italy's MIB (-0.5%) trailing its peers. European participants received a small dose of economic data today, but a weaker than expected CPI report was among the releases. Core CPI increased 0.7% in April (expected 0.9%), matching last year's growth rate. The Bank of England will release its latest policy statement next week, but expectations for a rate hike have fallen considerably since the conclusion of the March meeting. Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, who could become the next ECB President, noted that the ECB should not delay the withdrawal of stimulus. Mr. Weidmann added that the central bank has not corrected or committed to the market's expectations for the first rate hike around mid-2019, describing the expectations as "not unrealistic."

In economic data:
Eurozone April CPI +1.2% year-over-year (expected 1.3%; last 1.3%) and Core CPI +0.7% year-over-year (expected 0.9%; last 1.0%). March PPI +0.1% month-over-month, as expected (last 0.1%); +2.1% year-over-year, as expected (last 1.6%)
UK's April Services PMI 52.8 (expected 53.5; last 51.7)
Spain's Consumer Confidence 99.9 (last 98.6)

---Equity Markets---

UK's FTSE is down 0.1%. Consumer names like Kingfisher, Unilever, Compass, Sainsbury, Imperial Brands, Burberry, and GKN hold losses between 0.3% and 3.6%. On the upside, miners like Randgold Resources, Antofagasta, Fresnillo, Glencore, and BHP Billiton are up between 0.5% and 1.3%.
France's CAC is lower by 0.3%. Financials like BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, and Societe Generale are down between 0.2% and 1.2% while automakers Renault and Peugeot show losses near 0.8% apiece. On the upside, Veolia Environnement outperforms, rising 2.9%.
Germany's DAX is down 0.3%. Fresenius ST, Continental, Lufthansa, Adidas, BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler, and Siemens are down between 0.2% and 2.1% while Line and E.On outperform, rising 1.8% and 0.8%, respectively.
Italy's MIB has given up 0.5%. Ferrari, Fiat, Banco Bpm, Mediobanca, UBI Banca, Bper Banca, UniCredit, and FinecoBank are down between 0.6% and 2.3%.

08:34AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -13.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -32.80.

The S&P 500 futures are trading 13 points, or 0.5%, below fair value.

Just in, the preliminary unit labor costs rose 2.7% during the first quarter, while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 3.0%. The preliminary productivity reading showed an increase of 0.7%, while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 0.8%.

Separately, the latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 211,000, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 220,000. Today's tally was above the unrevised prior week count of 209,000. As for continuing claims, they declined to 1.756 million from a revised count of 1.833 million (from 1.837 million).

The March trade balance showed a deficit of $49.0 billion (Briefing.com consensus -$49.8 billion). The February deficit was revised to $57.7 billion from $57.6 billion.

07:58AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -12.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -29.50.

U.S. equities are on course for a lower open, as the S&P 500 futures are trading 12 points, or 0.5%, below fair value. The S&P 500 has declined in two of this week's three sessions -- most recently on Wednesday, when the benchmark index dropped 0.7%. Week to date, the S&P 500 is down 1.3%.

Investors are already looking ahead to tomorrow's release of the Employment Situation report for April, but they'll have several reports to digest in the meantime; namely, the preliminary readings for first quarter Productivity (Briefing.com consensus +0.8%) and Unit Labor Costs (Briefing.com consensus +3.0%), the March Trade Balance report (Briefing.com consensus -$49.8 billion), weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 220K), March Factory Orders (Briefing.com consensus +1.2%), and the ISM Services Index for April (Briefing.com consensus 58.3).

The productivity, unit labor costs, trade balance, and initial claims readings will be released at 8:30 AM ET, while factory orders and the ISM Services Index will be released at 10:00 AM ET.

Two days of trade talks between the U.S. and China are set to begin today in Beijing. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will lead their respective teams in the negotiations, but the meeting is not expected to produce any immediate headlines.

U.S. Treasuries are up this morning, pushing yields lower across the curve; the benchmark 10-yr yield is down two basis points at 2.94%. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index is down 0.2% at 92.39, retreating from its 2018 high, and WTI crude futures are down 0.1% at $67.87 per barrel.

In U.S. corporate news:

DowDuPont (DWDP 63.85, +0.36): +0.6% after beating earnings estimates for the first quarter.
Kraft Heinz (KHC 55.71, +1.51): +2.8% after reporting above-consensus earnings for Q1.
Tesla (TSLA 282.58, -18.57): -6.2% after CEO Elon Musk bizarrely dismissed analysts' questions during the company's earnings call.

Reviewing overnight developments:

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended Thursday on a mixed note while Japan's Nikkei was closed for Constitution Day. Hong Kong's Hang Seng -1.3%, China's Shanghai Composite +0.6%, India's Sensex -0.2%.
In economic data:
Australia's March trade surplus AUD1.53 billion (expected AUD650 million; last AUD1.35 billion). March Building Approvals +2.6% month-over-month (expected 1.0%; last -4.2%) March Imports +1.0% month-over-month (expected 0.0%) and March Exports +1.0% month-over-month (last 0.0%). March Private Housing Approvals +1.1% (last 3.1%). April AIG Service Index 55.2 (last 56.9)
Hong Kong's March Retail Services +11.4% year-over-year (last 29.8%)
In news:
U.S. trade negotiators were expected to begin talks with their Chinese counterparts today, but the meeting is not expected to produce immediate headlines.
The Reserve Bank of Australia will release its quarterly policy statement and accompanying economic projections on Friday, but no major changes are expected.

Major European indices trade in the red with Italy's MIB (-0.4%) trailing its peers. UK's FTSE -0.1%, France's CAC -0.3%, Germany's DAX -0.3%.
In economic data:
Eurozone April CPI +1.2% year-over-year (expected 1.3%; last 1.3%) and Core CPI +0.7% year-over-year (expected 0.9%; last 1.0%). March PPI +0.1% month-over-month, as expected (last 0.1%); +2.1% year-over-year, as expected (last 1.6%)
UK's April Services PMI 52.8 (expected 53.5; last 51.7)
Spain's Consumer Confidence 99.9 (last 98.6)
In news:
The Bank of England will release its latest policy statement next week, but expectations for a rate hike have fallen considerably since the conclusion of the March meeting.
Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, who could become the next ECB President, noted that the ECB should not delay the withdrawal of stimulus. Mr. Weidmann added that the central bank has not corrected or committed to the market's expectations for the first rate hike around mid-2019, describing the expectations as "not unrealistic."

07:31AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -5.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -12.80.

05:47AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -2.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -4.50.

05:47AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] Nikkei...Holiday......... Hang Seng...30313.37...-410.50...-1.30%.

05:47AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] FTSE...7549.01...+5.80...+0.10%. DAX...12774.57...-27.70...-0.20%.

04:30PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages finished the midweek session on a lower note despite an upbeat quarterly earnings report from Apple (AAPL 176.57, +7.47) and a status quo directive from the Federal Open Market Committee. The S&P 500 and the Dow lost 0.7% apiece, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 0.4%. Small caps advanced though, sending the Russell 2000 higher by 0.3%.

As expected, the Fed unanimously decided to leave the federal funds target range unchanged at 1.50% to 1.75% on Wednesday while laying the groundwork for a rate hike at the June meeting -- which would be the second rate increase of 2018. Following the policy directive -- which noted that inflation on a 12-month basis is expected to run "near" the Fed's 2.0% target over the medium term -- the market is still anticipating at least three rate hikes in total this year, with the chances of a fourth hike sitting near 50% (according to the fed funds futures market).

The S&P 500 briefly touched positive territory following the Fed's decision, reclaiming the modest loss it held throughout the morning, but soon moved sharply lower, notching new session lows along the way. The benchmark index never recovered from the late-afternoon drop and eventually finished near its worst mark of the day.

Wednesday's ending, while bitter, wasn't really all that surprising as equity futures struggled to take off overnight despite an upbeat earnings report from Apple -- the S&P 500's largest and most influential component -- which was released on Tuesday evening. Apple beat earnings estimates for its fiscal second quarter, raised its profit guidance for Q3, increased its share repurchase program by $100 billion, and raised its dividend by 16%. The tech giant's shares rallied 4.4% following the report, as one might expect, but the S&P's technology sector finished a tick lower.

Social media giant Facebook (FB 176.07, +2.21) did have a positive session though, adding 1.3%, after its rival Snap (SNAP 11.03, -3.10) missed revenue estimates and reported lower-than-expected daily active users (DAUs) for the first quarter; SNAP shares tumbled 21.9%, hitting a new all-time low.

In total, 10 of the 11 S&P groups finished Wednesday in the red, with financials (-1.2%), health care (-1.4%), consumer staples (-1.9%), and telecom services (-1.8%) leading the retreat. Gilead Sciences (GILD 66.88, -5.68) led the health care sector lower, dropping 7.8%, after reporting worse-than-expected earnings and revenues for Q1. Meanwhile, in the consumer staples group, CVS Health (CVS 65.94, -2.06) declined 3.0% despite beating Q1 earnings estimates and issuing upbeat guidance. Energy (+0.4%) was the only advancing sector.

U.S. Treasuries finished Wednesday on a modestly higher note, with yields slipping across the curve; the benchmark 10-yr yield declined one basis point to 2.96%. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index jumped 0.4% to 92.59, a fresh 2018 high, and WTI crude futures rallied 0.9% to $67.91 per barrel.

On the data front, the ADP National Employment report for April was released on Wednesday, showing an increase of 204,000 (Briefing.com consensus 225,000); the March reading was revised to 228,000 from 241,000. The ADP reading is seen as a prelude to the BLS's nonfarm payrolls figure (Briefing.com consensus 190,000), which will be released on Friday.

Looking ahead to Thursday, investors will receive a big batch of economic data that includes the preliminary readings for first quarter Productivity (Briefing.com consensus +0.8%) and Unit Labor Costs (Briefing.com consensus +3.0%), the March Trade Balance report (Briefing.com consensus -$49.8 billion), weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 220K), March Factory Orders (Briefing.com consensus +1.2%), and the ISM Services Index for April (Briefing.com consensus 58.3).

Nasdaq Composite: +2.9% YTD
Russell 2000: +1.3% YTD
S&P 500: -1.4% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -3.2% YTD

Dow: -174.07… | Nasdaq: -29.81… | S&P: -19.13…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1504/1282. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1391/1503.

Special thanks to Bloomberg, Briefing, Reuters and Yahoo! Finance for their market summaries. Also, thank you for the review of TheStrategyLab performance record...hopefully the links and data will be useful for you.

Price Action Trading @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/price-action-trading.htm

Trade Strategies via Volatility Analysis @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/VolatilityTrading.htm

Rebuttal to Emmett Moore via TheStrategyLab.com Review @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=3167

The Strategy Lab: Valforex - The Manipulative Review Scam @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=3676

TheStrategyLab Review @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/thestrategylab-reviews.htm

Advance WRB Analysis Tutorial Chapters 4 - 12 @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/WRBAnalysisTutorials.htm

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M.A. Perry
Online user name wrbtrader (more info about me) @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=127&t=850 & http://www.thestrategylab.com/wrbtrader.htm
TheStrategyLab Price Action Trading (no indicators)
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body/bar analysis)
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