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EUR/USD

The Euro maintained a strong tone in European trading on Thursday, but it was unable to break resistance levels above 1.4230 and drifted weaker with short-term players unwilling to commit to positions.

The flash Euro-zone inflation rate rose to 2.6% for March from 2.4% previously as energy costs continued to spike higher. The data will reinforce inflation fears within the ECB and will also make the central bank even more determined to raise interest rates next week. There will also be additional speculation that the bank will plan a series of rate increases, although this will certainly be more contentious, not least as it will exacerbate political tensions surrounding weaker Euro-zone members.

Portugal revised up the 2010 budget deficit following a change in accounting methods and a general election will be held in early May. At current yields, Portugal remains effectively shut out of bond markets and there will be further expectations that a bailout package is inevitable. There were no further surprises from the Irish banking-sector stress tests, but the situation remains perilous and structural fears remained a very important market issue which will certainly unsettle the Euro.

US jobless claims fell to 388,000 in the latest reporting week from a revised 394,000 previously while the Chicago PMI index edged lower to 70.6 from a revised 71.2 previously and remained at very high levels. The data will reinforce expectations of solid economic growth and confidence will remain firm if there is robust payroll data on Friday.

Comments from Fed officials remained generally more hawkish with Regional President Kocherlakota stating that interest rates may need to rise before the end of 2011 and the rhetoric provided some dollar support. The Euro consolidated just above 1.4150 ahead of the US employment data.

Source: VantagePoint Intermarket Analysis Software

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Yen

The dollar found support above 82.50 against the yen during Thursday and rallied to test resistance near 83.20. A break above this level triggered further selling pressure on the yen as it weakened to lows near 83.70 in Asia on Tuesday.

The yen remained vulnerable against the dollar on yield grounds, especially with further speculation that the Fed will shift towards a tighter monetary policy. There was also further interest in carry trades funded through the yen as markets looked to take a positive attitude towards risk.

The Japanese Tankan report was broadly in line with market expectations with a rise to 6 in the first quarter from 5 previously. The impact was limited, especially as a high proportion of the responses were received before the March 11 earthquake. There was some disappointment that capital spending plans were scaled back and underlying confidence in the Japanese fundamentals remains weak.�

Sterling

Sterling pushed to a high around 1.6140 against the dollar during Thursday, but was unable to sustain the advanced and quickly retreated back to below 1.61 and dipped further to test support near 1.6020 in US trading, although the UK currency did find support near 0.8850 against the Euro.

Underlying confidence in the economy remained fragile with further concerns that weaker consumer spending would have a negative impact on the wider economy as fiscal tightening takes effect. The latest PMI surveys will be watched closely with the manufacturing data due on Friday and the series has proved strong over the past few months. At this stage, markets are expecting the Bank of England to keep interest rates on hold next week, but there will be caution ahead of the decision.

The UK banking sector will remain an important focus and there is likely to be concern over exposure to bad debts within the European banks which could have a serious impact in undermining Sterling.

Swiss franc

The dollar remained generally on the defensive against the franc in European trading on Thursday, but it found support below 0.9150 and rallied back to a peak above 0.92 as the Swiss currency came under wider pressure.

There was further international interest in carry trades which had an important negative impact on the franc with the Swiss currency seen as an attractive funding currency if there is a sustained improvement in risk appetite.

There were still be fears over the Euro-zone structural vulnerabilities which tempered franc selling to some extent and volatility levels are liable to remain high.

Source: VantagePoint Intermarket Analysis Software

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Australian dollar

The Australian dollar has maintained a strong tone over the past 24 hours and pushed to fresh 29-year highs around 1.0370 against the US currency before drifting weaker on profit taking. There has been further market interest in carry trades which has boosted demand for the local currency.

The manufacturing PMI index weakened to 47.9 for March from 51.1 previously, maintaining the run of fragile survey data and the weaker than expected Chinese PMI data also had some impact in curbing Australian dollar demand.

May crude oil closed up $2.46 at $106.73 a barrel yesterday. Prices closed near the session high and hit a fresh three-week high yesterday as the bulls gained fresh upside near-term technical momentum. The crude oil bulls have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. A potentially bearish head-and-shoulders top reversal pattern on the daily bar chart was negated yesterday. The next near-term upside price breakout objective for the bulls is producing a close above strong technical resistance at the March high of $108.25 a barrel. The next near-term downside price breakout objective for the crude oil bears is to produce a close below solid technical support at $102.00. First resistance is seen at yesterday's high of $106.83 and then at $107.59. First support is seen at $106.00 and then at $105.00.

Wyckoff's Market Rating: 8.0.

Source: VantagePoint Intermarket Analysis Software

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May heating oil closed up 510 points at $3.1044 yesterday. Prices closed near mid-range yesterday and hit a fresh three-week high. Prices also closed at a bullish monthly and quarterly high close yesterday. Bulls have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. The bulls' next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at the March high of $3.1426. Bears' next downside price breakout objective is producing a close below solid technical support at $3.0000. First resistance lies at $3.1426 and then at $3.1750. First support is seen at yesterday's low of $3.0525 and then at this week's low of $3.0183.

Wyckoff's Market Rating: 8.5.

May unleaded gasoline closed up 446 points at $3.1021. Prices closed nearer the session high yesterday and scored a fresh contract high. Prices also closed at a bullish monthly and quarterly high close yesterday. Bulls have the strong overall near-term technical advantage. The next upside price breakout objective for the bulls is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $3.2000. Bears' next downside price breakout objective is closing prices below solid support at $3.0000. First resistance is seen at yesterday's contract high of $3.1200 and then at $3.1500. First support is seen at yesterday's low of $3.0575 and then at $3.0250.

Wyckoff's Market Rating: 8.5.

May natural gas closed up 3.9 cents at $4.394 yesterday. Prices closed nearer the session high yesterday and scored a bullish "outside day" up on the daily bar chart. Bulls and bears are on a level near-term technical playing field. The next upside price breakout objective for the bulls is closing prices above solid technical resistance at this week's high of $4.559. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at last week's low of $4.20. First resistance is seen at yesterday's high of $4.442 and then at $4.50. First support is seen at $4.30 and then at $4.25.

Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.0.

Friday, April 1--Jim Wyckoff's Morning Web Log

* JIM'S MARKET THOUGHT OF THE DAY *

Today is another extra important trading day. It's the first day of the month and of the quarter. That means there could be fresh "fund" money allocated to various markets, pumping up the volume and possibly the volatility in those markets. The U.S. jobs report is also out today, which should also make for some more active trading.--Jim

STOCK INDEXES

S&P 500 futures: The shorter-term moving averages are bullish early today. The 4-day moving average is above the 9-day and 18-day. The 9-day is above the 18-day moving average. Short-term oscillators are neutral to bullish early today. Today, shorter-term technical resistance comes in at this week's high of 1,327.50 and then at March high of 1,336.20 and then at the February high of 1,342.80. Buy stops likely reside just above those levels. Downside support for active traders today is located at the overnight low of 1,320.80 and then at 1,314.80. Sell stops are likely located just below those levels. Wyckoff's Intra-day Market Rating: 5.5

Nasdaq index futures: Prices hit a fresh four-week high overnight. The shorter-term moving averages are bullish early today. The 4-day moving average is above the 9-day and 18-day. The 9-day average is above the 18-day. Short-term oscillators are neutral to bullish early today. Shorter-term technical resistance is located at 2,360.00 and then at 2,370.00. Buy stops likely reside just above those levels. On the downside, short-term support is seen at the overnight low of 2,335.50 and then at 2,320.25. Sell stops are likely located just below those levels. Wyckoff's Intra-Day Market Rating: 6.0

Dow futures: Sell stops likely reside just below support at Thursday's low of 12,260 and then more stops just below support at 12,200. Buy stops likely reside just above technical resistance at Thursday's high of 12,320 and then at 12,350. Shorter-term moving averages are bullish early today, as the 4-day moving average is above the 9-day and 18-day. The 9-day moving average is above the 18-day moving average. Shorter-term oscillators are neutral early today. Wyckoff's Intra-Day Market Rating: 6.0

U.S. TREASURY BONDS AND NOTES

June U.S. T-Bonds: Shorter-term moving averages are bearish early today. The 4-day moving average is below the 9-day and 18-day. The 9-day is below the 18-day moving average. Oscillators are bearish early today. Shorter-term resistance lies at the overnight high of 120 6/32 and then at 120 16/32. Buy stops likely reside just above those levels. Shorter-term technical support lies at this week's low of 119 19/32 and then at 119 even. Sell stops likely reside just below those levels. Wyckoff's Intra-Day Market Rating: 4.0

JUNE U.S. T-Bonds

132 14/32--lifetime high
123 22/32--Previous Month's high
121 14/32--second pivot point resistance
120 31/32--previous day's high
120 22/32--18-day moving average
120 22/32--first pivot point resistance
120 19/32--9-day moving average
120 10/32--100-day moving average
120 6/32--pivot point
120 2/32--4-day moving average
119 29/32--previous day's close
119 23/32--previous day's low
119 14/32--first pivot point support
118 30/32--second pivot point support
118 5/32--previous month's low
115 7/32--lifetime low

June U.S. T-Notes: Shorter-term moving averages are bearish early today. The 4-day moving average is below the 9-day and 18-day. The 9-day is below the 18-day moving average. Oscillators are neutral to bearish early today. Shorter-term resistance lies at the overnight high of 118.26.5 and then at 119.00.0. Buy stops likely reside just above those levels. Shorter-term technical support lies at this week's low of 118.19.0 and then at 118.10.0. Sell stops likely reside just below those levels. Wyckoff's Intra-Day Market Rating: 4.0

JUNE U.S. T-Notes

126 10/32--lifetime high
121 26/32--previous month's high
119 24/32--100-day moving average
119 23/32--second pivot point resistance
119 23/32--18-day moving average
119 15/32--previous day's high
119 13/32--9-day moving average
119 9/32--first pivot point resistance
119 --pivot point
118 31/32--4-day moving average
118 26/32--previous day's close
118 24/32--previous day's low
118 18/32--first pivot point support
118 9/32--second pivot point support
117 18/32--previous month's low
109 6/32--lifetime low

U.S. DOLLAR INDEX

The June U.S. dollar index is firmer in early trading, on short covering in a bear market. Bears still have the overall near-term technical advantage. Slow stochastics for the dollar index are bearish early today. The dollar index finds shorter-term technical resistance at the overnight high of 76.39 and then at this week's high of 76.70. Shorter-term support is seen at the overnight low of 76.21 and then at 76.00. Wyckoff's Intra Day Market Rating: 5.5

CRUDE OIL

Crude oil prices are higher in early trading today and hit a fresh three-week high overnight. Bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage and have gained more upside momentum this week. In May crude, look for buy stops to reside just above resistance at the overnight high of $107.65 and then at the March high of $108.25. Look for sell stops just below technical support at the overnight low of $106.58 and then at $106.00. Wyckoff's Intra-Day Market Rating: 6.0

GRAINS

Prices were mixed in overnight trading. Corn sharply extended its gains with 35-plus cent gains overnight. Meantime, wheat and soybean futures prices were slightly lower. Look for more active trading in the grains today, as traders continue to digest the bullish USDA reports that were issued Thursday morning. Grain market traders will still keep an eye on the key "outside markets"--the U.S. dollar index, crude oil and the U.S. stock indexes. Weather in the U.S. Midwest will become a major factor in the grain markets and will take center stage after the USDA report is digested by traders.

Some Potential Swing Trading Opportunities for today...

These stocks will be monitored by you every day!!! Follow the master plan and you will be on your way to learn to trade stocks like a PRO... enjoy...

The results are generated by my stock screener. Only the first 5 results are displayed here for every scan.

For full results, subscribe now to StockScanPRO for 30 days FREE, then only pay $9.99 a month!.

SECRETS TO GREAT RESULTS:
CONFIDENCE - PATIENCE- FOCUS - DISCIPLINE

Long Swings

Window

Scan Code From www.StockScanPRO.com:
(sma(volume,20) >= 500000) and (close() > 7) and (adx(10) > 30) and (pdi(10) > mdi(10)) and (high() < sma(close,5))

Results for NASDAQ

Results for NYSE

BGS	NYSE	B&G Foods, Inc.	3/31/2011
CYS	NYSE	Cypress Sharpridge Investments, Inc.	3/31/2011
JAS	NYSE	Jo-Ann Stores, Inc.	3/31/2011
RHT	NYSE	Red Hat, Inc.	3/31/2011
SJM	NYSE	J. M. Smucker Company	3/31/2011

Results for AMEX

SKF

AMEX

ProShares UltraShort Financials

3/31/2011

Results for NYSEARCA

BGZ	NYSEARCA	Direxion Large Cap Bear 3x Shares	3/31/2011
FAZ	NYSEARCA	Direxion Financial Bear 3x Shares	3/31/2011
SCO	NYSEARCA	ProShares UltraShort DJ-AIG Crude Oil	3/31/2011

Swings

Scan Code From www.StockScanPRO.com:
(sma(volume,20) >= 500000) and (close() > 12) and (force_index(3) <= 0) and (force_index(13) >= 0) and (adx(10) > 30) and (high() < high()[-1]) and (high()[-1] < high()[-2]) and (close() > sma(close,10)) and (close() > sma(close,20))

Results for NASDAQ

Results for NYSE

SFD

NYSE

Smithfield Foods Inc.

3/31/2011

Results for AMEX

Results for NYSEARCA

1-2-3-4

Scan Code From www.StockScanPRO.com:
(sma(volume,20) >= 500000) and (close() > 12) and ((adx(10) + adx(20))/2 > 30) and (pdi(10)+pdi(20) > mdi(10) + mdi(20)) and (low() < low()[-1]) and (low()[-1] < low()[-2]) and (high() < high()[-1]) and (high()[-1] < high()[-2])

Results for NASDAQ

Results for NYSE

Results for AMEX

Results for NYSEARCA

SCO

NYSEARCA

ProShares UltraShort DJ-AIG Crude Oil

3/31/2011

Cross

Scan Code From www.StockScanPRO.com:
(sma(volume,20)>=500000)and(close() > 12)and(sma(close,5)>sma(close,15))and(close() < sma(close,5))and(close() > sma(close,15))and(high() < high()[-1])and(close() > open())

Results for NASDAQ

Results for NYSE

BGS	NYSE	B&G Foods, Inc.	3/31/2011
BJ	NYSE	BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc.	3/31/2011
CBE	NYSE	Cooper Industries, Ltd.	3/31/2011
COF	NYSE	Capital One Financial Corporation	3/31/2011
COV	NYSE	Covidien plc	3/31/2011

DJIA Industrial Average

March 31

Open: 12350.61

High: 12381.68

Low: 12319.01

Close: 12319.73

Change: -30.88 (-0.25%)

RSI: 60

MACD: 57.5

Strategy: Stocks in US remained quiet on the final day of the first quarter as investors looked satisfied with 6% gains that indices have already made since the start of the year. DJIA is trying to regain feet above 12300 points.

Commentary:

Despite a quiet close to the first quarter, the U.S. stocks ended a strong first quarter Thursday. While the geo-political tensions failed to disturb the market run, yet the investors appear to have turned slightly cautious in the month of March.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 30.88 points, or 0.25% Thursday ahead of the all important employment report. The S&P 500 fell 2.4 points, or 0.2% and Nasdaq Composite gained nearly 4 points, or less than 0.2%.

With this, The Dow has advanced 6.5%, the S&P 500 up 5.6% and the Nasdaq up 4.8% in the first three months of the year.

Amongst the index stocks, 3M with 1.11%, United Technologies 0.50%, Coca Cola 0.45% and McDonald’s 0.37% were the major stocks to advance.

However, there were some Dow components like American Express -1.55%, Intel -1.37%, Home Depot -1.36% and Cisco -1.04% shed more than 1% in the day.

An aggregate of 8 stocks advanced amongst the 30 Dow constituents and the others slipped in the day.

Advancing Sectors in the session included Industrials (+0.4%) and Materials (+0.4%). However, Tech (-0.3%), Financials (-0.4%) and Consumer Discretionary (-0.4%) sectors remained weak in the day.

Amongst the economic indicators released Thursday, The Chicago-area PMI for March fell to a reading of 70.6, compared to February's reading of 71.2. Economists were looking for a reading of 68.9.

Elsewhere, The Commerce Department said factory orders fell by 0.1% in February. A 0.4% rise was anticipated by economists.

Meanwhile, in the latest jobless claims released, Initial jobless claims for the week ended March 26 slipped marginally to 388,000. But the same was slightly greater than the 383,000 initial claims that had been expected.

On Friday, the government will release the closely watched monthly jobs report. It has been forecast that a 180,000 jump in payrolls for March may have been noticed, with the unemployment rate steady at 8.9%.

Elsewhere, Treasury Secretary, now in China for a meeting of G-20 finance ministers, said developing nations need flexible exchange rates to help absorb economic shocks.

Intel shares were in limelight on the Dow, as it slipped 1.4% after analysts at FBR Capital cut their price target on the chipmaker.

Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet’s flagship company fell 2%, after Buffett's heir apparent, David Sokol, quit. In a press release Wednesday, Buffett termed the resignation as a total surprise.

Shares of defense contractor Northrup Grumman fell 9% after analysts at Citigroup cut their price target for the company.

The dollar fell against the euro and the Japanese yen, but was flat versus the British pound.

Oil for May delivery gained $2.36 to $106.63 a barrel to scale to a new high.

Gold futures for June delivery rose $15.10 to $1,438.90 an ounce. The other precious metal-silver also continued to be strong in the session and closed the day at over $37 an ounce for June delivery.

The Day Ahead

Friday

Monthly employment report for March

Automobile sales for March

ISM Mfg Index for March

Construction spending for Feb

I strongly advocate “thinking in themes” rather than indicators and keeping your focus as much as possible on price structure.

Namely, you want to know “what is price doing and how effectively is it doing in?”

Here �" let’s look at the current SPY intraday world to pick up on a theme that you may have missed unless you were watching closely:

It’s often best to reserve at least some of your analysis for thinking in “Themes” or “Concepts” like this.

Ask:� “Is there any obvious pattern that I might be missing?”

Market Character/Behavior changes from time to time, and if you’re able to pick up on these little patterns ahead of the crowd, you’ll do a better job as long as the market continues to respond to the theme.

For example, on the rally up off the mid-March low, we’ve seen a consistent pattern of the SPY (market) pausing at a round-number level for a day or so and then busting through the level to the next overhead ’round number,’ which gives intraday traders plenty of opportunity to profit from this simple “theme.”

I’m a huge advocate of chart/trading simplicity and this is about as simple as it gets �" simple, but so far effective.

The $130 level (1,300 in the S&P 50o) was a VERY obvious resistance level we all watched and price had trouble overcoming this level initially.

However, once it did (with a little “Finger” or Bear Trap under $129 I might add) then the race was on for intraday traders to play for the next upside target of $131.

Price spent the better part of March 24th struggling at the overhead level and on the next session, price broke above $131 on its journey to $132 �" a tradable move intraday.

The market again had similar trouble at the key $132 level as it did at $130 (1,320 and 1,300 in the SP500) and then yesterday we had a gap-up (the expectation and trade follow-through I mentioned was likely in the prior night’s Idealized Trades member report) off the gap opening 50 cents higher to the new $133 intraday target.

Yesterday and today, we’ve had similar difficulty breaking above the $133 “round number” level, though if we do soon (tomorrow’s Jobs Report could be the catalyst), then if the “Theme” continues, we can expect a similar style move to $134.

But if the immediate history repeats, at least on the cases of March 23 and March 29, we’ve had a little “Trap” or “Finger” temporary breakdown of a round number level which led to the fuel to power the market up through the next level.

A pure repeat would take the market down under $132 temporarily and then rocketing again up above $133 on its way to $134.

No one knows what is going to happen, but thinking in themes like this can help you plan out your plays/trades via IF/THEN logic (“IF a breakout happens, THEN I will trade an expected move to my new target”).

Keep your plans objective (non-biased) and based on price structure and always be aware that themes do change �" particularly as more market participants pick up on them.

As such, early recognition is always key.� Lessons like this can help you think in terms of price-based market themes.

Corey Rosenbloom, CMT
Afraid to Trade.com

With NYMEX WTI and BRENT OIL up $2/bbl, the U.S. Oil Fund ETF (NYSE: USO) is acting well. The USO sure does look like it's breaking out to the upside from its month-long sideways digestion area, which my work argues projects towards a next target zone of 43.60-44.20.

insert.a.chart.USO

At this juncture, only a downside reversal and violation of Tuesday's pullback low at 41.16 will compromise the budding upside breakout.

EUR/USD

The Euro found support on dips towards 1.4050 against the Euro during Wednesday and rallied to a high near 1.4140 during the New York session with the currency holding firm in Asia on Thursday as the dollar still found it very difficult to gain any significant traction against major currencies.

Markets were looking to concentrate on yield considerations ahead of the ECB council meeting next Thursday. Comments from ECB members have remained consistently hawkish over the past week and there is no sign that the central bank is backing away from a rate hike. Indeed, there has been increased speculation that the bank would either look for a 0.50% rate increase this time or would effectively announce a planned series of increases.

Yield considerations will tend to support the Euro initially, but a series of rate increases has been priced in and the structural vulnerabilities will also remain a very important negative factor, especially with the Irish banking-sector stresses tests likely to show further capital will be required. Markets may again lose confidence in the Euro as sovereign risks intensify.

The US ADP employment data was broadly in line with expectations with a 201,000 private-sector payroll increase for March following a revised 208,000 gain previously and there were expectations of a solid payroll outcome on Friday. There was also further speculation that the Federal Reserve would not look to extend the quantitative easing programme beyond June and could even curtail the existing bond-buying programme early.

Source: VantagePoint Intermarket Analysis Software

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Yen

The dollar maintained a strong tone against the yen during Wednesday and pushed to a high near 83.20 before retreating and testing support levels below 82.80. The yen has continued to be undermined by yield considerations as Treasury yields remain higher following speculation that the Fed will end quantitative easing early.

Carry-trade activity remains important and there has been increased speculation that the yen will be used as a global funding currency, especially if selling the dollar is seen as less attractive.

Underlying confidence in the economy remains weak with the PMI manufacturing index retreating back to below the 50 level in the latest reading. There has also been an increase in overseas bond buying.

There will still be caution over aggressive yen selling and there was evidence of exporter offers above the 83 area.

Sterling

Sterling resisted a further test of support in the 1.5950 area against the dollar on Wednesday and advanced to a high just above 1.61 as the UK currency also strengthened through 0.88 against the Euro.

The UK economic data offered some support to Sterling with the services sector rebounding in January following December's sharp decline. The data is old, but will increase hopes for a solid first-quarter GDP reading. There was also a stronger than expected CBI retail sales report for March.

Consumer confidence, however, remained at a weak level and there will still be fears that a decline in real incomes will have a serious negative impact on consumer spending which will also derail Sterling over the next few months with the Bank of England still finding it difficult to respond to higher inflation.

The Irish banking-sector stresses tests will be watched closely on Thursday and a higher than expected capital requirement would also tend to unsettle the UK currency.

Swiss franc

The dollar spiked to a high near 0.9270 against the franc on Wednesday, but then retreated rapidly with a low around 0.9170 in Asian trading on Thursday as the Euro found it difficult to hold above 1.30 against the Swiss currency.

The Swiss KOF business confidence index was slightly stronger than expected at 2.24 for March from a revised 2.19 previously and this remains a very high figure historically which will boost confidence in the economy.

There will still be some increase in use of the franc as a carry trade if global confidence improves, but there will also be unease over the potential for capital flight if Euro fears intensify again.

Source: VantagePoint Intermarket Analysis Software

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Australian dollar

The Australian dollar found support below 1.03 against the US currency during Wednesday and pushed to fresh 29-year highs just above 1.0340 during local trading on Thursday.

The domestic data offered some support with a reported 0.5% increase in retail sales for February while there was an increase in private-sector credit, but the building approvals data was sharply weaker than expected which will dampen confidence to some extent.

The currency continued to gain support from a renewed increase in carry-trade activity during the session as equity markets also proved resilient.

May corn futures closed down 10 cents at $6.61 3/4 yesterday. Prices closed near the session low yesterday and saw position evening ahead of Thursday morning's USDA report. Bulls still have the slight overall near-term technical advantage, but are fading. Prices are still in the middle of a wide trading range marked by the contract high of $7.44 1/4 and by the March low of $6.08. How the corn market closes on Friday will be a very good clue on the next near-term trend in prices. Corn bulls' next upside price breakout objective is to push and close prices above psychological resistance at $7.00 a bushel. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is pushing prices below solid technical support at $6.50. First resistance for May corn is seen at yesterday's high of $6.75 and then at $6.80. First support is seen this week's low of $6.61 1/4 and then at $6.50. �

Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.5

Source: VantagePoint Intermarket Analysis Software

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May soybeans closed up 10 1/2 cents at $13.72 a bushel yesterday. Prices closed near the session high and closed at a fresh three-week high close yesterday. Traders are awaiting the key USDA planting intentions report on Thursday morning. Look for more volatile trading Thursday and Friday, in the wake of the report. The next near-term upside technical breakout objective for the soybean bulls is pushing and closing May prices above solid chart resistance at $13.85 3/4 a bushel. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is pushing and closing prices below psychological support at $13.00. First resistance is seen at yesterday's high of $13.74 and then at $13.80. First support is seen at yesterday's low of $13.55 3/4 and then at this week's low of $13.41. �

Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.5.

May soybean meal closed up $1.90 at $360.50 yesterday. Prices closed nearer the session high yesterday. Bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage. However, prices are still in a seven-week-old downtrend on the daily bar chart. The next upside price breakout objective for the bulls is to produce a close above solid technical resistance at $365.00. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is pushing and closing prices below solid technical support at the February low of $348.30. First resistance comes in at yesterday's high of $361.50 and then at $365.00. First support is seen at $357.50 and then at yesterday's low of $355.80.

Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.0.

May bean oil closed up 30 points at 57.32 cents yesterday. Prices closed near the session high yesterday and hit a fresh three-week high. Bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage and gained more upside momentum yesterday. The next upside price breakout objective for the bean oil bulls is pushing and closing prices above solid technical resistance at 58.00 cents. Bean oil bears' next downside technical price breakout objective is pushing and closing prices below solid technical support at 55.75 cents. First resistance is seen at yesterday's high of 57.47 cents and then at 58.00 cents. First support is seen at yesterday's low of 56.89 cents and then at 56.50 cents. �

Wyckoff's Market Rating: 7.0

May Chicago SRW wheat closed down 10 cents at $7.27 1/4 yesterday. Prices closed nearer the session low yesterday. Trading has turned choppy. Look for the wheat market to be a follower of corn and soybeans for the next several weeks. Bulls' next upside price breakout objective is to push and close Chicago SRW prices above solid technical resistance at last week's high of $7.53 a bushel. The next downside price breakout objective for the wheat futures bears is pushing and closing prices below psychological support at $7.00. First resistance is seen at this week's high of $7.42 and then at $7.50. First support lies at this week's low of $7.21 and then at $7.10. �

Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.5.

May K.C. HRW wheat closed down 5 cents at $8.62 yesterday. Prices closed nearer the session low yesterday in quieter trading. Bulls still have the near-term technical advantage. Bulls' next upside price breakout objective is pushing and closing prices above psychological resistance at $9.00. The bears' next downside breakout objective is pushing and closing prices below solid technical support at last week's low of $8.25. First resistance is seen at last week's high of $8.68 1/2 and then at $8.75. First support is seen at $8.51 3/4 and then at this week's low of $8.46. �

Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.0.

May oats closed down 1 1/2 cents at $3.49 1/2 yesterday. Prices closed nearer the session high. Bulls and bears are on a level near-term technical playing field at present. Bears' next downside price breakout objective is pushing and closing prices below solid chart support at the March low of $3.13 1/2. Bulls' next upside price breakout objective is pushing and closing prices above solid technical resistance at $3.70. First support lies at yesterday's low of $3.44 1/4 and then at $3.40. First resistance is seen at $3.53 and then at this week's high of $3.55 1/4. �

Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.0.