The Santa Rally fizzled a bit at the end of last week but it's still early December and Rudolph has plenty of time to bring presents to weary consumers and investors.
Our positions in the Standard Portfolio were essentially flat for the week with four positions invested and one in cash.
The View from 35,000 Feet
Last week's hot sectors were Financials, Industrials, Utility and Tech as indicated in the chart below:
Going farther afield, leading Exchange Traded Funds were centered in the Pacific Basin with South Korea (EWY) and Japan (EWJ) leading the way.
Laggards were the Japanese Yen (FXY), Long Term Treasuries (TLT) and Energy (XLE)
But in spite of all the gyrations around the 1100 level on the S&P 500, the longer term uptrend remained in place as depicted on the weekly S&P 500 chart below where we see the current price well above its 70 week Moving Average and the Weekly MACD remaining in positive territory, albeit with the MACD leveling out in recent days:
The good news was almost too much to take as the dollar strengthened and speculation already started that the Fed could be raising interest rates as early as mid-2010. But the steady string of bank failures continued with 6 more failing last week, bringing the yearly total to 130.
So this week, we'll have to see if the pre-Christmas cheer can be maintained.
The Week Ahead
Monday takes a look at October Wholesale Inventories, Thursday brings Initial Jobless Claims and the big reports are on Friday with November Retail Sales, the initial University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment reading for December and October's Business Inventories.
Beyond that, Chairman Bernanke speaks on Monday and a few notable earnings reports are on tap, including Costco, Talbot's and Dollar General.
And there's a heavy schedule for placing Treasury debt mid week.
Monday: October Consumer Credit, October Wholesale Inventories
Thursday: Weekly Jobless Claims,
Friday: November Retail Sales, December Michigan Consumer Sentiment, October Business Inventories
Sector Spotlight:
Leaders: South Korea, Japan, Russell 2000
Laggards: Japanese Yen, 20 Year Treasuries, Energy
News this week points to further evidence that "The Great Recession" might actually be coming to an end. I hope that it has because many have suffered, and for all of us, it has been a long two years, indeed.
John
John Nyaradi
Publisher
All information presented herein is for general information only and deemed to be from reliable sources, but we cannot guarantee its accuracy. Readers are strongly advised to check with their investment counselors before making any investment. There is risk of loss in all investment activity.
Posted
12-05-2009 4:56 PM
by
John Nyaradi