Greetings!
I hope all is well with you and your families and that you had a very pleasant Thanksgiving Holiday week. Coming back from vacation I find myself longing for the days of Greyhound bus travel and wishing we had viable high speed train service to take the place of the agony of travelling by air. Where are the days of the old Pan Am when you were actually treated with dignity and received impeccable service and food?
Needless to say that "..getting there.." has become an ordeal, and thank goodness that when you do get there, you can actually relax and feel human again.
Much has happend in the financial markets since I left, and yet, much has stayed the same. As we approach the last month of 2009, we find a Market on the verge of bursting through its doldrums and hopefully giving us a clear and uninterrupted shot at making some headway in our portfolios.
THIS WEEK'S ACTION
The week began with disturbing news about Dubai being unable to make regular payments on Billions of dollars of loans that nation took out in its effort to build "Dubai World," a unique living community in the Gulf waters. Shock waves were sent throughout the financial markets. Yet, the Market on Monday gave one of its strongest and most fervent BUY signals as the indexes and stocks moved markedly higher on the day. Go figure! How does Bad News equate to strong buying in the stock market?
Tuesday saw more of the same buying action as stocks continued up, and all braced for what many have been waiting for; namely, a clear and consistent uptrend in the Market to finish the year with a bang, rather than a wimper. Wednesday again the Market continued to behave, but then came Thursday.
The week ended with a great deal of Drama as on Thursday Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was before Congress in regards to his re-nomination for a second term. Invariably, as seems to happen every time Big Ben speaks in front of Congress, the Market made an about face and volume selling was the order of the day. Friday, the selling continued well into the afternoon and it appeared that once again, this Market was going to do a 180 degree turn with two back to back days of selling. This most certainly would have put in serious jeopordy the Bull run earlier in the week. That did not happen.
Late Friday, the unemployment figures came in for Novemeber and lo and behold the numbers were down from 10.2% to 10%. Investors came in quickly and the Market closed the week with significant gains. This sets up a very interesting week beginning Monday, and it is my guess that we will continue higher. Stay tuned as we try to fiinish the year with some element of a Merry Christmas holiday mood.
Have a wonderful weekend...don't worry...stay happy!
