Will The Streak End At 8?

I don't know why the media is making such a fuss over the streak of up days in the Dow. Sure it is up for 8 straight days, but the gains haven't been that big. I guess that's why we always make fun of the media. Anything to boost ratings, even if it is essentially meaningless.

Asian markets were up overnight, while the Yen is falling more vs. the dollar. The IMF made comments on the Yen carry trade saying that they weren't worried about it getting out of hand.

Bond yields are trading a little lower to 4.71%. Bernanke makes a speech today, and the FOMC minutes will also be released this afternoon. I expect to hear more of the same, that the Fed still needs to be vigilant on inflation. This will likely make investors think that any Fed rate cuts are even further out in time.

Oil is also trading a bit lower, hovering around $61.60. But the inventory data is due out any minute, so that could change things in a hurry.

In other news, Citigroup (C) is cutting 17,000 jobs in an effort to save billions of dollars. Alcoa (AA) reported record earnings last night, to kick off earnings season, but it isn't enough to help the market so far in early trading.