Stocks mixed

After a 4 day monster rally, stocks are taking a breather. This is a shortened, semi holiday kind of day & not a lot is expected. Stocks are down slightly with decliners a little ahead of advancers. Even after the giant rally, Dow remains down 600 for the month.

Here is a wrap up for MLPs:

Alerian MLP Index --- 1 month




At the start of Nov the index got into the 200s, trying for a breakout which failed. Later it broke thru the lows (under 160) after Lehman's demise, but rallied nicely (along with other stocks) off that bottom.

Oil is pulling back. OPEC is meeting in Cairo, maybe trying to set production cuts to help the price of oil. But not a lot is expected from the meeting.

CLF09.NYM

Crude Oil Jan 09

..52.66

.......1.78 (3.3%)

Today should be a good take to break from the markets to go shopping. Retailers need all the help they can get.