Today’s Wall Street open has been mixed, with traders actively pricing-in a lagging U.S. Retail Sales report. On the opening bell, the DJIA DOW (-54), S&P 500 SPX (+29), and NASDAQ (-24) hovered near flat. For the most part, sentiment is divided, with more evidence of a shifting U.S. economy dictating the early action.

U.S. Retail Sales Disappoint

During the pre-market hours, the Retail Sales figures for September were released to the public. The report was far from flattering. Here is a quick look at the hard data:

Event                                                                        Actual     Projected     Previous

Retail Sales (MoM, Sept.)                                        -0.3%            0.3%              0.6%

Retail Sales Except Autos (MoM, Sept.)               -0.1%             0.2%              0.2%

In addition to these two stats, the Retail Sales Control Group (Sept.) came in at 0.0%, beneath expectations (0.3%) and the previous release (0.3%). All in all, this is a poor group of metrics and suggests that American consumption is beginning to lag.

U.S. Stocks Open Mixed

It appears as though investor angst is back on Wall Street, with the indices opening the session mixed. However, this may soon change as the indices are currently non-committal. For the December E-mini DOW, a retracement has a chance of setting up a late session buying opportunity.

Here are the levels to watch for the E-mini DOW throughout the trading day:

• Resistance(1): All-Time High, 27375
• Support(1): Daily SMA, 26756
• Support(2): Bollinger MP, 26636

Bottom Line: If the DJIA sells off due to today’s dismal Retail Sales figures, a long trade in the December E-mini DOW will come into play. For the remainder of the session, I will have buy orders queued up from 26776. With an initial stop loss at 26696, this trade produces 80 ticks on a standard 1:1 risk vs reward management plan.