Optimism Ahead of Christmas

The Dow closed higher by 61 points today as most economic data today beat consensus.

Fundamentals
It was truly a day jammed packed with economic data today. Even though GDP didn't turn out as well as expected, the much better than expected Jobless Claims, Consumer Comfort, Consumer Sentiment and Leading Indicators quickly took the market into the green and held it there for the rest of the day. Today's data continue to paint the picture of economic recovery particularly in the area of jobs and consumerism. Trading volume was also very healthy today, setting the market up for a positive Christmas week.

Technicals
The Dow is once again at the doorstep of the 12,200 points resistance zone. However, this time round, the Dow has a real chance at breaking the resistance zone at last and that might happen next week.

For now, the Dow remains in short term neutral trend within an intermediate neutral trend and primary bull trend.