Before the Open (Dec 26)

Good morning. Happy Wednesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. India, Indonesia and Japan did well. Europe is closed. Futures here in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.

The dollar is flat. Oil and copper are up. Gold and silver are flat.
As you can imagine, there isn’t much news out today.
US holiday retail sale rose 0.7% versus expectations of 3-4%. This is the worst number since 2008.
For what it’s worth, Chinese rating agency Dagong put the US on negative watch.
Obama is returning early from his vacation in Hawaii to continue fiscal cliff talks.
The fiscal cliff is front and center and at the top of the list of important market-moving items. Last week good news sent the market up, and bad news sent it down. I don’t expect a resolution until after New Years, and while I’d like to think they’re hammering out the details of an agreement now and then will vote first thing in 2013, there are no guarantees. Until the fiscal cliff is resolved, the market will be held hostage.
I remain cautiously optimistic. That means I lean to the upside, but I’m playing it safe, managing positions conservatively and not taking any chances. If the fiscal cliff talks linger, a mini downtrend can easily play out.
headlines at Yahoo Finance
headlines at MarketWatch
today’s upgrades/downgrades
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers