daytrades december 9 morning ...

Good Morning Traders (and thanks Highlandlad),

DOW Snapshot from the previous trading session

"Stocks held modest gains Wednesday as a rebound in bank shares offset weakness in commodities and concerns about rising interest rates in the Treasury market.

Bank of America and JPMorgan led gainers on the Dow, while McDonald's dragged on the blue-chip index. Technology shares Intel and IBM were also strong. Shares of Chevron and Alcoa were under pressure as prices for oil and precious metals fell. The weakness in commodities came as the dollar rose against the euro, making assets priced in the U.S. currency less attractive to some investors.

"The dollar is one of the most important catalysts here," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist with Prudential Financial. "The market is being hit with a number of different factors, and we're mostly focused on how they affect the dollar."

Investors were also digesting the deal struck Monday between President Obama and Republican lawmakers to extend tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 a year.

Obama touted the compromise, which would also extend unemployment benefits and create a payroll tax holiday for workers, as a boon for middle-class Americans. But at a news conference Tuesday, the president said he would push to have the tax cuts eliminated for high earners after the two-year extension is over. Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co., said the deal is a positive for the economy and the financial markets. But he added that investors are awaiting the final details of the plan, which is expected to face some resistance from Democrats. "This is something that will have longer-term benefits, and will gradually work its way into the marketplace," he said.

Meanwhile, investors were also grappling with an ongoing sell-off in the Treasury market, which has pushed the benchmark 10-year yield near a 6-month high.

Some market participants see the selling as a sign that investors are more bullish about the economic outlook, and are gravitating toward riskier assets. Others argue that rising yields will make it harder for the U.S. government to borrow money, fuel inflation and hurt the economic recovery. "The market still needs to sort that out," said Krosby." - [Source: cnnmoney.com]

The DJIA Index finished the last trading session Up 13.32; and
The SPI Futures are currently: Up 19 pts atm.

Of note in the US this evening:

BOE Announcement [Market moving indicator]

Jobless Claims [Merits extra attention]

EIA Natural Gas Report [Merits extra attention]

...AND...

Of note in Australia today:

Unemployment Rate (Nov) [High volatility expected]
[The Unemployment Rate release by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is the number of unemployed workers divided by the total civilian labor force. If the rate hikes, indicates a lack of expansion within the Australian labor market. As a result, a rise leads to weaken the Australian economy. A decrease of the figure is seen as positive (or bullish) for the AUD, while an increase is seen as negative (or bearish).]

Employment Change (Nov) [High volatility expected]
[The Employment Change released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is a measure of the change in the number of employed people in Australia. Generally speaking, a rise in this indicator has positive implications for consumer spending which stimulates economic growth. Therefore, a high reading is seen as positive (or bullish) for the AUD, while a low reading is seen as negative (or bearish).]

[Sources Used: bloomberg.com; dailyfx.com; fxstreet.com; nasdaq.com]

Gold is currently trading Down $19.80 & is sitting at US$1,381.30/oz atm [Source: Kitco]
Oil is currently trading Down $0.41 & is sitting at US$88.28/bbl atm [Source: Bloomberg]
The Dollar: The AUD is currently trading @ 0.9791 cents against the US Dollar[Source: Forex. Live]

Have a great day trading today all.

Cheers, Tweets

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