http://finance.yahoo.com/intlindices

http://money.cnn.com/markets/morning_call/










http://www.kitco.com

Energy futures

Currencies/Au/Ag

Looks like up today. All Ords +0.6% with all sectors green. Property Trusts is out in front, +1% followed by Materials, +0.9%. Consumer Discretionary is up the least, +0.1%.

Some interest being shown in the miners: BHP +1.3%, RIO +0.1%. Golds not too badly off, Newcrest, +1.2%, Newmont flat and Lihir +1.1%.

Oils looking a bit uncertain: Woodside flat, Santos +1.1% and Caltex +0.3%.

A steady climb today. All Ords closed +0.8% with all sectors green apart from Healthcare, -0.5%. Materials moved into lead position, +1.3% followed by Property Trusts +1%.

Miners remained static: BHP +1.4%, RIO -0.1%. In the golds, Newcrest +1.2%, Newmont -0.9% and Lihir +1.3%. Initial interest in the juniors faded away intraday.

Oils mixed: Woodside +0.2%, Santos +2.1% and Caltex -0.7%.

Basically sideways in Asia: Honkers and India +1.1%, Nikkers -0.8%.


Over to UK/Europe:







http://finance.yahoo.com/intlindices?e=europe

China's November Trade Surplus Rises to $26 Billion

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- China's trade surplus rose 14.7 percent in November to the third highest on record, adding fuel to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's demands for faster yuan appreciation.

The gap climbed from a year earlier to $26.28 billion, the Chinese customs bureau said today on its Web site.

Chinese exports rose 22.8 percent in November from a year earlier to $117.62 billion, the customs bureau said. Imports climbed 25.3 percent to $91.34 billion. For the first 11 months, exports rose 26.1 percent to $1.1 trillion, larger than the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, South Korea or Mexico, according to Bloomberg data.

----------------

China Inflation Surges to 11-Year High

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- China's inflation accelerated at the quickest pace in 11 years and the trade surplus swelled, adding pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates or let the currency appreciate faster to cool the economy.

Consumer prices rose 6.9 percent in November from a year earlier after climbing 6.5 percent in October, the statistics bureau said today.

Seems like SPX futures ramped up after that China inflation report was released.

That's bullish?????

when I take a f*ckin' dump at the 7/11, its bullish, Drano ...

the wino by the dumpster axed me for a stock pick the other day ...

PEIX

didn't seem too interested in inverse 2x SPX ETF's ... I'm loaded to the gills

Food price inflation in China is a big deal.

Eggs up 18%. Pork, the most common of the minor luxury goods, so scarce that price hardly matters. No one can afford a pig.

Price of rice is frightening.

Are we looking at the possibility of Food riots in advance of the Olympic Games?

If your thinking of protesting high inflation in china it would be
a Shanghai tea party to dump the HP laptops overboard

When you can't afford to put food on the table it's not about protesting an abstraction like "inflation" or "we want freedom of speech" or "reduce gashouse emissions."

It's "My family is hungry. How can my family be hungry in the midst of all this wealth for others?"

Isn't that pretty much the same thing that got Mao going with his revolution?

No country club type lock up for him, apparently non US felons are ineligible for min security even if you are Lord Black.

Isn't this going to happen whenever a society shifts a major portion of its populace from rural to live in the cities. They can produce more stuff, but just not more foodstuffs. The timing seems about right for this to happen in China since it seems to happen with a lag to the timing of the populace shifting.

Perhaps we need to export our agribusiness and start kicking the peasants off their land in order that mega corporate farming can start.

Then Willie Nelson might have yet another extension to his illustrious career by helping the peasant farmers in China.

"The only thing that matters" trying to turn the corner after hitting target zone....

what would you call the benefit raising concert....FAWM AYD?

My streamer from Ameritrade says the Sow is up 130 points! Maybe they're just getting it primed for the post Fed Jam job!

MA rock'n!

intraday patterns on dow and spx are eerily identical the past 2 days.

for now, both continue to trade above the rising 3 day cycle MAs at 13704 and 1513.17

dow has multiple support lines 13733-13720, then the 3 day cycle MA 13704, then more tl's 13693 and 13681. 5 day cycle MA is at 13654 and rising.

DJ Fed Accepts $12 Bln In Overnight RPs

Type of transaction: Overnight RPs
Total accepted: $12 Bln
Total submitted: $47.95 Bln

Agency Collateral Operation
Total accepted: $5.893 Bln
Total submitted: $18.1 Bln
Stop-Out Rate: 4.29%
Weighted Average: 4.3%
High-rate submitted: 4.3%
Low-rate submitted: 4.2%

Treasury Collateral Operation
Total accepted: $4.319 Bln
Total submitted: $19.65 Bln
Stop-Out Rate: 4.13%
Weighted Average: 4.14%
High-rate submitted: 4.15%
Low-rate submitted: 4%

Mortgage-Backed Collateral Operations
Total accepted: $1.788 Bln
Total submitted: $10.2 Bln
Stop-Out Rate: 4.32%
Weighted Average: 4.32%
High-rate submitted: 4.32%
Low-rate submitted: 4.25%

(Data was provided by the New York Federal Reserve Bank).

spx failed breakout at 1517.75. 3 day cycle MA and a couple trendlines coming up as support 1513.28, a513 and 1510.

dow and spx- while 3 and 5 day cycle indicators are on the sell side of their smoothers, they have not broken down. That signals trending mode until the indicators break and support trendlines are broken on the price side.

Credit markets seem to believe a 50 beeper is on its way, as it should be...

Libor finally down 5bps and swap spreads also coming in a bit.

qqqq sitting right on a tl and the 5 day cycle MA at 52.47. 8 day cycle MA is just below at 52.46. multiple support lines also in that area. 3 and 5 day cycle MA setups similar to dow and spx. No breakdown.

Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by 37.5bp, FOMC Statement is Neutral With Tinge of Hawkishness
Wednesday, December 8, 2007 18:38:06 GMT

Written by Ben Dover, Chief Strategist

The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by 37.5bp to 4.125 percent, giving the financial markets exactly what they didn't expect and nothing more. The FOMC statement remained virtually unchanged, signaling that any further rate cuts by the Federal Reserve will be gradual. Interestingly enough, the Fed indicated that the upside risks to inflation roughly balance the downside risks to growth. In other words, their monetary policy bias is neutral with a tinge of hawkishness. "The move was designed to throw everybody off course and allow us to run the markets up and down in a zig-zag fashion and frustrate Bulls and Bears alike" said one anonymous Fed Governor. "Ultimately, we pulled a ramp job into the final hour to create a sense of security that whatever we did was exactly what the market needed".

Amzn also. They really seem to want to pick off the shorts lying above that gap fill line at $95.45.

Lets see if there are any buyers after the shorts are busted.

MA got an upgrade today.
Anal said it's recession proof.

Just saw a block of 2,200 shares of January 210 puts on MA go by at 7.6.

I don't understand why there is such a disconnect between MA and retailers.

More people are using plastic than cash.
My question is...if there's a recession won't folks spend less which translate into fewer transactions? I don't get this anal.

I see red!
How's that possible!

Madness don't let the street know your entire position.....

Fed added $12bn in 1 day repos at average rate of 4.25%

Does this mean we get a 25 beeper?

Doc?

Bueler?

Anyone?

only government could come out with a press release like this..............


*DJ $80 US Oil Means 'Historically High Prices' For Fuel -EIA

*DJ EIA: Gasoline Seen Peaking At More Than $3.40/Gal In Spring

Zacks' spammail is pushing DRYS.

Those spam things from Zacks are often a fade, although of course short-term people usually buy them.

Madness, do you think this is about it for DNA for a while?

By the way, thanks a lot for pointing it out.

47 users. That's probably 47 more than makes any sense at this time on Fed day. A snoozerama until the announcement?

*DJ 1Q 08 China Oil Use Seen +5.4% Vs Yr Ago At 7.83M B/D - EIA

this is exceptionally strong growth in usage...

Yea, i think that was it this morning for now.
I would wait for a retest of 65 again to enter. I exited all my calls this morning.

Thanks, Madness. Now that I'm out too, it will rocket back up another 10 points or so.

DNA might see 71 but i won't risk that 1 buck for a potential retest (-5) at 65...
Just me...

Np
Give me a howl if it gets to 65 again...

Lem, they got AMZN up beyond your 95.45 target, and it dropped back.

Hmmm.

That was a wash. They had 12B expiring. See my comments in yesterday's Fed Report. Does it mean they will only cut 25? Not necessarily. Before they did the 50 cut, they had allowed FF to trade down 25 for several weeks prior. Then they went another 25 at the meeting. So, this could be the same, or not. I'm not good at guessing what they are going to do.

They are testing those support lines I mentioned before. A couple of the 3 and 5 day cycle indicators have edged below past lows, but this looks like a sideways down phase in 3 and 5 day cycles. That suggests they are setting up for another blastoff. Would be interesting if the Fed throws a negative surprise.

Key pivots are 13695 and 1511. They would need to break those to get any downside going.

This is from the streamer, but apparently someone determined can find it over at Marketwretch --

"Leo Leydon of Financial Focus Advisory Services in Pembroke, Mass, says that while investors may want to go bargain-hunting in the financial-services sector right now, they don't want to do it with C, WM, or CFC."

He says BAC, AXP, and Ameriprise (AMP) are okay, that TGB and GMO (General Moly), BIIB (LeeWhee fave), ELN, and SNDK are buys.

Here's something I rarely see -- suggests not only selling, but SHORTING HRP (a REIT)

*DJ US Gasoline Stocks At 201 Mln Bbl, Below 5-Yr Average - EIA

FRE gap filled... retest of lows ? Or bear suck-in ?