- Consumer credit surged again in November
- VIX near 52 week low
- State and local governments back to health -Bbg
- Meteorologists warn over drought risks in US -Bbg
- Market chatter over Goldman and JP Morgan´s return to prop-trading
- Market chatter on reports that AIG may sue US government

Dow Jones: -0.41%
Nasdaq Comp.: -0.23%
S&P 500: -0.32%

US equities finished the day slightly but off their intra-day lows ahead of the release of aluminium giant Alcoa´s quarterly results, which typically mark the start of the corporate earnings season on the other side of the pond.

Of interest, state and local governments are in their best financial shape since the recession, giving them leeway to cushion the US economy from federal budget cuts with spending and hiring of their own, according to analysis by Moody's Analytics, Bloomberg reports. Consumer credit data from the Federal Reserve released Tuesday evening was similarly positive.

More worryingly, the same news agency cited meteorologists who are warning that drought conditions in the US could mimick those seen in the 30´s in the United States, which lasted for a period of several years. Not coincidentally, food security is expected to be high on the agenda at the next World Economic Forum, at Davos.

Hedge funds optimistic

Respondents to a December survey of hedge fund managers carried out by Trimtabs overwhelming expect the S&P 500 to go up this year, but few expected as strong a performance as 2012. Nevertheless, in a reseearch note released earlier in the day Credit Suisse cited hedge fund positioning in equities as one reason to expect a consolidation in the very short-term.

Don´t bite the hand that feeds you
Market reports that former insurance giant AIG -who was near the epicentre of the 2008 meltdown on Wall Street - could file a lawsuit against The United States, was apparently the 'talk of the town,' although apparently in a slightly derisive manner.

Other published reports regarding a purported return to proprietary trading by the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan also lifted some eyebrows. Current strategies however are now more long-term in nature and thus supposedly fall out of the remit of the proposed 'Volcker Rule'.

Seed company Monsanto has surpassed first fiscal-quarter earnings and boosted its full-year forecast.

Yum! Brands, owner of the KFC fast-food chain, reported same-store sales which fell more than expected after a Chinese government probe into one of its former suppliers.

Merck&Co. may be interested in acquiring Bausch&Lomb.

Biotech outfit Celgene got a boost from an upgrade out of RBC to outperform.

Analysts at BB&T Capital Markets have downgraded their view on Boeing to hold from buy.

From a sector stand-point the worst performance was seen in the following industrial groups: Renewable Energies (-6.61%) and Fixed Line Telecommunications (-2.63%). Coal also fared poorly.

Consumer electronics led on the upside, benefitting from the talk at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show (CES) about gadgets that can talk to plants... anyone feel left out of the conversation?

Large drop in retail sales
Same store retail sales dropped 4.2% last week, according to the latest survey data from ICSC.

The NFIB's small company confidence index improved slightly, to 88 points in November (Consensus: 87.2) after a reading of 87.8 in the month before.

Slight rise in cure futures
West Texas crude futures fell by 0.10% to the 93.06 dollar mark on the NYMEX.

10 year US Treasury yields are flat, at 1.87%.



S&P 500 - Risers
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $91.41 +6.63%
Coach Inc. (COH) $57.33 +3.06%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $41.40 +2.93%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $67.85 +2.93%
Monsanto Co. (MON) $98.50 +2.67%
Fossil Inc. (FOSL) $98.38 +2.64%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $32.01 +2.60%
Tiffany & Co. (TIF) $62.60 +2.45%
Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) $6.12 +2.34%
Scripps Network Interactive Inc. (SNI) $59.12 +2.32%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $40.16 -6.43%
GameStop Corp. (GME) $23.19 -6.30%
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) $18.99 -4.86%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $13.77 -4.71%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $16.88 -4.20%
Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM) $65.04 -4.20%
Aetna Inc. (AET) $44.38 -3.86%
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (RRD) $9.01 -3.64%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $43.10 -3.56%
Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW) $8.04 -3.48%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $15.39 +1.45%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $88.48 +0.63%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $63.22 +0.60%
American Express Co. (AXP) $60.20 +0.57%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $46.05 +0.55%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $68.59 +0.28%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $45.50 +0.20%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $73.19 +0.18%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $26.02 +0.15%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $42.18 +0.14%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $43.10 -3.56%
AT&T Inc. (T) $34.35 -2.94%
Boeing Co. (BA) $74.13 -2.63%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $51.40 -1.32%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $94.00 -1.27%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $83.55 -1.21%
General Electric Co. (GE) $20.90 -1.09%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $11.98 -0.91%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.09 -0.75%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $37.04 -0.70%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $91.41 +6.63%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $67.85 +2.93%
Fossil Inc. (FOSL) $98.38 +2.64%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $48.50 +2.56%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $48.22 +2.16%
Sirius XM Radio Inc (SIRI) $3.14 +1.94%
Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE) $52.59 +1.74%
Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) $23.35 +1.52%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $19.66 +1.34%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $50.73 +1.34%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $40.16 -6.43%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $176.63 -3.23%
Dell Inc. (DELL) $10.77 -2.62%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $47.37 -2.59%
Dollar Tree Stores Inc. (DLTR) $39.01 -2.38%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $32.50 -2.23%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $12.49 -2.18%
Altera Corp. (ALTR) $34.51 -2.15%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $41.98 -2.14%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $35.61 -2.04%

AB

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