- Analytical Commentary -

December 23, 2009 (FinancialWire) (By Dr. Joe Duarte) — The S&P SPDR ETF (NYSE: SPY) almost made a new high on 12-22, but the good news is that the Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE: IWM) actually got a lot closer, suggesting that the market may have found a new source of fuel for the advance, the small stocks.

The stock market may have started a new up leg this week, powered by the small stocks. As the U.S. Dollar has strengthened, the small stocks, as is often the case have begun to move higher. The reason is that many small companies are hurt by the weak dollar, which spurs sales of large multinational companies. A good way to look at this is to compare the Russell 2000 Index of small stocks and the Dow Jones Industrial average, which houses many of the large cap multinational companies that tend to benefit from a weaker dollar. The Russell is well within one or two good days from a new high, while the Dow, although acting well, is still closer to the middle of its recent trading range.

More important is the action on the NYSE advance decline line, which made a new high for the move from the March bottom on 12-22. Also a positive is the action in the number of stocks making 52-week highs.

When you put it all together, it looks as if the Santa Claus rally is here, and if things continue as they are at the moment it could well translate into a pretty traditional January effect. What happens beyond January, though, is anyone’s guess.

[Go to http://www.financialwire.net/?s=joe+duarte to see more commentaries by Dr. Joe Duarte.]

The FirstAlert(tm) Economics Calendar lists Personal Income & Consumption Spending for November (8:30 a.m.), U. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for December (9:55 a.m.), New Home Sales for November (10 a.m.), EIA Petroleum Inventories (10:30 a.m.), Treasury announces 2, 5, & 7-year note auctions (11 a.m.).

FirstAlert(tm) Website of the Day: http://www.payscale.com

Quote of the Day: “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.” Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa

Today is: Festivus.

Happy Birthday: Pierre Brissaud, Alexandr Rodchenko, Helmut Schmidt, Paul Hornung, Jorma Kaukonen, Wesley Clark, Susan Lucci, Eddie Vedder.

Today in History: George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1783. A Visit from St. Nicholas, attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, was first published in 1823. The transistor was first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories in 1947. The first human organ transplant, of a kidney, was performed by Doctors Murray and Harrison at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston in 1954. The 16 survivors of an Andes flight disaster were rescued in 1972 after 73 days, during which they survived by cannabalism. The Scaled Composites Voyager aircraft completed the first non-stop flight around the world without refueling in 1986.

[FirstAlert(tm) was created by Gayle Essary, founder of Investrend Communications, Inc., parent of Investrend Information. The opinions expressed in FirstAlert(tm) do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Investrend.]

Free annual reports and company filings for companies mentioned in the news are available through the Investrend Information Syndicate (at http://investrend.ar.wilink.com/?level=279). Recently issued reports and filings include F & C Capital & Income Investment Trust PLC (LSE: FCI), Sarantel Group PLC (LSE: SLG), Pharmacyclics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYC), Niusule Biotech Corp. (OTCBB: NIUS), JPMorgan European Investment Trust PLC (LSE: JFF), Ecofin Water & Power Opportunities PLC (LSE: ECWO), Invesco Property Income Trust Ltd. (LSE: IPI), Hansa Trust PLC (LSE: HAN) (OTC: FSBTF), Perpetual Income & Growth Investment Trust PLC (LSE: PLI), New India Investment Trust PLC (LSE: NII), JPMorgan Fleming Smaller Japanese Companies Investment Trust PLC (LSE: JPS), Edinburgh Investment Trust PLC (LSE: EDIN) (OTC: EHITF), Armour Group PLC (LSE: AMR), Bravo Venture Group Inc. (TSX Venture: BVG), Bellway PLC (London Stock Exchange: BWY) (OTC: BLWYF), Chase Corp. (AMEX: CCF), Continental Materials Corp. (AMEX: CUO), Amcon Distributing Company (AMEX: DIT), Eaton Vance Enhanced Equity Income Fund (NYSE: EOI), Majedie Investments PLC (London Stock Exchange: MAJE) (OTC: MJENF), Morgan Stanley Income Securities, Inc. (NYSE: ICB), Grainger PLC (London Stock Exchange: GRI) (OTC: GRTGF), Eaton Vance Insured Municipal Bond Fund (AMEX: EIM), PIMCO High Income Fund (NYSE: PHK) and Shaw Communications, Inc. (NYSE: SJR).

FinancialWire(tm), in cooperation with the Investrend Broadcast Syndicate, also provides complete, daily conference call and webcast schedules as a service to shareholders and investors by the FirstAlert(tm) Network’s “FirstAlert(tm) Daily” (http://www.financialwire.net/news-alerts/). Recently webcast company presentations, financial results & earnings calls now available include InSite Vision, Inc. (OTCBB: INSV), LocatePLUS Holdings, Inc. (OTC: LPHC), Rentech, Inc. (AMEX: RTK), CytRx Corp. (NASDAQ: CYTR), Santarus, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNTS) ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: ANX), Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTM), Methode Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: MEI), White Electronic Designs Corp. (NASDAQ: WEDC), Cantel Medical Corp. (EXCH: CMN), Frequency Electronics Inc. (EXCH: FEIM), Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack (NYSE: PBY) and Xeta Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: XETA). Recordings are accessible via the search function at http://infoescrow.net/f/?u=http://www.investorcalendar.com by entering any company’s ticker symbol into the search field.

FinancialWire(tm) is a fully independent, proprietary news wire service. FinancialWire(tm) is not a press release service, and receives no compensation for its news, opinions or distributions. Further disclosure is at the FinancialWire(tm) web site (http://www.financialwire.net/disclosures.php). Contact FinancialWire(tm) directly via inquiries@financialwire.net.

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.