12:05pm (EST)
The bulls are trying to take us higher after a strong start but the bears seem determined to end the market’s 7-day streak. It’s still early and we are busy checking the charts.
The Dow is currently up 11 points to 10,558 while the Nasdaq is down by 3 points to 2,288. The S&P 500 is flat at 1,127.
The Conference Board reported consumer confidence rose to 52.9 in December from a revised 50.6 in November as job market pessimism eased and consumers’ expectations reached a two-year high.
Meanwhile, Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller said its home price index rose for a fifth straight month in October, edging up 0.4%. The index was off 7.3% from October last year, roughly in line with expectations.
We continue to like all of our current trades and will back in the morning with a full update. We are watching Barrick Gold (ABX, $30.94, down $0.58) but will HOLD our positiosn for another day. We are close to getting stopped out for a small profit but we take another look at the trades. If we do not send an update, we will continue to hold and adjust our stops.