Stock Market Blog -Dec 16th

Kind of a flat week for the markets, except for AAPL, which continued its downward trajectory! With the holiday season upon us, I expect we'll see light trading, with maybe some 'fiscal cliff' related selling. To everyone's surprise, the Euro is showing strength and may be about to break out to new highs. Meanwhile the Yen is showing a lot of weakness. Also, the US Dollar has been dropping, which is usually good for stocks. The Fed announced more 'QE' this week...

New all time highs:   CRM, MPC, PPG, VMED
All time lows: ?
Pops:   BBY
Drops: BBY

Euro strength -about to break out? 135 maybe?
Weak Yen (below)

 
Next week: Economic reports  
Earnings: ORCL, FDX, NKE, RIMM

Market Commentary

Market volatility is very low (VIX), indicating an upside bias to the market. The S&P500 chart is also forming an inverted H&S pattern -another potential bullish signal. And the Euro looks like it's about to breakout to new highs -also bullish for the S&P500, because of the normally strong correlation (weaker US Dollar). Maybe we'll get a Christmas rally.

This week's charts:

Weekly Unemployment claims
S&P 500 -bullish?
OptionsMakeSense

Commodities/Futures (charts):
Crude Oil was up a bit, closing near $86.73
Natural Gas dropped, closing near $3.31
Gold dropped, closing near $1697
The 30 year Bond dropped, closing near $148.34
The US Dollar dropped a bit, closing near 79.56

NEWS:
Wall Street succumbs to Apple's fall, "cliff" uncertainty
Week Ahead: Manufacturing, Housing Data on Tap
Apple takes investors on a wild ride
5 reasons why Google has its mojo back
Central Banks: How They Are Ruling the Financial World
The Federal Reserve's Zombie Economy
Ray Dalio Thinks The Bond Bull Market Could Finally Turn In 2013
How Unconventional Oil And Gas Is Supercharging The U.S. Economy