daytrades december 20 morning ...

Good Morning Traders,

DOW Snapshot from the previous trading session:

"U.S. stocks ended little changed on Friday, hovering at two-year highs hit in the previous session, as President Obama signed a tax-cut plan into law. Late Thursday the House of Representatives put a final stamp of approval on the $858-billion tax deal, and the president signed the bill into law at the end of Friday's session. The S&P 500 has gained nearly 6% since Obama agreed to compromise with Republicans on the tax plan, said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors.

"The market is viewing this plan very positively," Orlando said. "While people were concerned when liberal Democrats opposed it, at the end of the day, it got passed and that's a good thing for markets."

On Friday, Wall Street's key volatility measure, the VIX, fell to its lowest level since April, as stocks took a breather from their recent run-up. "Investors are digesting the good news and taking some time to lock in profits for the year ahead of a shortened week and light trading," said Tyler Vernon, CIO of Biltmore Capital. [Source: cnnmoney.com]

Market Reflections from Friday, 17th December, 2010:

"A sweeping downgrade of Ireland by Moody's pressured stocks and lifted the dollar. The dislocations in Europe contrast with strong growth in China and building growth in the U.S., the latter highlighted Friday by a surge in the index of leading economic indicators. Tax-cut extensions, signed into law today, have raised the economic outlook and had fueled a major increase in interest rates. Rates fell back in today's session with the 10-year down nine basis points to 3.34 percent. The euro fell 3/4 of a cent to $1.3170 while the dollar index rose slightly to 80.39. Oil and gold were little changed. Finally, the Dow was little changed at 11,491." [Source: bloomberg.com]

The DJIA Index finished the last trading session Down 7.34; and
The SPI Futures are currently: Up 8 pts atm.

Of note in the US this evening:

Please note there is no noteworthy 'Economic news' due to be released in the US this evening;

...AND...

Of note in Australia today:

Conference Board Australia Leading Index (Oct) [Moderate volatility expected]
[The Conference Board Australia leading Index released by the Conference Board measures future trends of the overall economic activity including employment, average manufacturing workweek, initial claims, permits for new housing construction, stock prices and yield curve. It forecasts short to mid-term growth in the Australian economy. Generally, 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 Up $6.00 & is sitting at US$1,375.50/oz atm [Source: Kitco]
Oil is currently trading Up $0.32 & is sitting at US$88.02/bbl atm [Source: Bloomberg]
The Dollar: The AUD is currently trading @ 0.9874 cents against the US Dollar[Source: Forex. Live]

Have a great day trading today all.

Cheers, Tweets

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