(bY Rich Bieglmeier) When word hit the tape that John Boehner was at the White House discussing the terms of his surrender, stocks took off.
Democrat, Chris Van Hollen says there is 50/50 chance a deal – didn't say good or bad – could be in place by the first of the year. Oh, and the debt ceiling gets thrown in as a door prize. Senators will be spending Christmas in D.C. according to Harry Reid as the majority leader smells a forthcoming agreement.
Monday's gains were accompanied by good volume; so, Wall Street clearly anticipates some resolution to the fiscal cliff, and apparently soon. Now, the indexes are vacillating around their respective 50-day averages and creating potentially bullish triangle patterns. Either that, or the NASDAQ, Dow, and S&P will create a year-long head-and-shoulders pattern with a potential neckline break sometime in February through April. It possible both could happen as long as any rally doesn't carry the indexes beyond mid-September's highs. iStock will monitor it and let you know.
Financial stocks did particularly well on Monday as an analyst upgraded the sector. Perhaps the analyst reviews the same charts iStock examines as financials made our emerging bull list in this week's sector review. Keep that in mind as Discover Financial Services (DFS) reports earnings before the market opens on Thursday. The credit card company made our iEstimates list and could be ripe for a bullish surprise. The street consensus is for DFS to earn $1.11 with an iEstimate of $1.13.
When you come back later today, we'll have our full sector review on the site. In addition to financials, Restaurants and Bars look fairly sharp to us; maybe Wall Street plans on partying after making some money cash in bank stocks.
There isn't much in the way of news, beyond political, that could shake up the market today. At 10 a.m. EST, the Housing Market Index will be released. The announcement could cause a blip in trading but will fade from impactful by lunch time
That's it for today – Happy Trading