The market was working on its 7th straight day of gains, when a last hour sell-off pulled the indexes from achieving this feat.
Consecutive gains of more than 5 days in a row are rare indeed and are usually followed by at least one down day. Of course volume was low during this quiet Holiday shortened week so one cannot put too much meaning into the directional activity of the last three trading days of the year.
Economic reports were mixed as consumer confidence showed a slight improvement while a report on home prices was not as robust as hoped for.
I expect the market to meander for the next couple of days before this year comes to an end. While we have all sell stops in place, I don’t think any will be triggered during the remainder of 2009.