Volatility Rears Its Head

The intraday volatility in yesterday's session was pretty surprising. If you merely looked at the closing levels of the indexes, you have no idea what took place in between the bells.

The NDX showed the most volatility. From its high to low points during the day, it showed a 3.5% swing. Of course, it still managed to eke out a gain for the day.

2006 was notable for its lack of volatility. I know some are saying that 2007 will not be a repeat, and that volatility will show a noticeable pickup. Was day #1 for the year an early warning sign?

Oil is down again today, breaking below the $57 level. This is hurting the energy complex. I can't remember the last time I saw such a large 2-day selloff in energy stocks. Brutal.

Retail sales came out this morning for most retailers. I will have more details later, but for the most part the results were a bit soft. Especially when you hear the companies trying to blame the results on weather.

The NDX is trading just below its 50-day, after trying to recapture this level yesterday but failing. So this battle bears watching.

In other news and notes:

• Fox pulls the plug on The O.C.
• CSCO buys network security firm
• MNST online job index falls in December
• SunTrust believes BEAS will be swallowed
• RBC initiates SIRF with Outperform ($34 target)
• BOOM announces new record for orders
• ARO raises Q4 guidance
• GME raises Q4 guidance; strong holiday sales
• RUTH raises Q4 rev guidance; maintains EPS guidance
• GOOG partners with China Mobile (CHL) to provide mobile search
• Webush starts BRCM with Buy ($45 target)

long GOOG, RUTH, SIRF