Back In The Saddle

Time to shake off the cobwebs from the holiday and get back to the markets. The market finished at its highs on the short session on Monday, and is slightly lower in early trading today.

The pressure is mostly coming from retail and housing. Mastercard (MA) said holiday shares were up an uninspiring +3.6% compared to last year's +6.6% figure. And Target (TGT) said that December same-store sales will be below expectations. This is pressuring most retail stocks.

The S&P/CaseShiller Home Price Index indicated that home prices fell -6.1% yr/yr, a larger than exected drop.

Oil is up a lot this morning, trading near $95.75. The 10-year yield is flat around 4.20%.

But the ARMS Index is high at 1.24, and the put/call ratio is above the 1.0 level. This indicates anxiety among investors, and should help to keep a floor under stocks today. I would expect some modest declines overall, after 5 straight up days in the market. Not a bad stretch.