Market Alert - Pre-Market

Futures vs FV: SP +2.56; DJ +3.21; NASDAQ +7.72

Rather typical quiet morning for the 'in-between' week with top stories being a series of fights in various malls across the US on Monday, carping about Trump's cabinet picks having the audacity to be successful and wealthy, Obama still ardently trying to get the narrative of his legacy as success.

More serious discussions revolve around what the healthcare revamp will look like with talks of credits, health savings accounts, small business pools, etc. Obama says he knows his plan has worked because more people are signing up for it (ignoring that more and more alternatives have gone out of business in 2016) and that if it is removed, 30M people will lose insurance. Of course almost all of those 30M, indeed MANY millions more, cannot use the insurance they are forced to buy: surges in premiums and massive deductible spikes leave people with no money to use insurance, meaning they are effectively self-insuring. That is okay for the very wealthy, but for most US citizens that effectively means they have no insurance. So, the are putting off procedures just as Steve Forbes commented this morning.

Retail numbers are somewhat sketchy, though the consensus is it was just a so-so season. Of course, fights in malls on the day after Christmas, now a big shopping day, are not helping sales.

Case-Schiller, Oct. year/year: +5.6%

Italy: Government puts 6.5B into Monte Paschi though it will take more as depositors are removing money thus increasing the amount required to stabilize the bank.


OTHER MARKETS
Bonds: 2.576% vs 2.54%

EUR/USD: 1.0433 vs 1.0451

USD/JPY: 117.402 vs 117.32

Oil: 53.45, +0.43

Gold: 1141.80, +8.20


Futures are holding their gains into the open as NASDAQ growth areas appear to take the early lead today. This week is something of an island of its own because once it is over the 'real' action starts with the new year and the big money puts money to work where it wants to focus on the new year. That can turn what looked good at year end to an unwanted area.

Add onto that the need for big funds to rebalance their funds for year end given the big stock run and the big bond selloff in order to get their portfolios balanced to what their charters require or just as their investing programs they prefer. That will pressure stocks at year end to the tune of $35B according to some. That could create a buying opportunity, however, to start the new year.

So, our plan is to let positions run as best they will, try to take some gains when they show up. There are some really interesting plays we have that can produce some nice gain without having to work for weeks and weeks. MEET is set to open higher today and that is one we feel could work well. We will of course watch for some of these.

Jon Johnson, Chief Market Strategist
InvestmentHouse.com
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