Markets held most of early gains

Dow gained 132, advancers over decliners better than 3-1 & NAZ rose 30 (but not good enough for a 2009 high). Banks had a good day & the Financial Index continues to waffle around 200 as it has done for 3 months.


S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX

Value 199.08

Change 2.88

% Change 1.5%

MLPs & REIT lost some of their AM gains, the indices were up only 1½ & 2 respectively. Junk bond funds were slightly higher as the VIX, volatility index, slipped back to 21, nearing its 2009 low of 20. Fears are easing bringing back more speculation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond was up 1 basis point to 3.37%. Below is a table from Yahoo describing the yield spreads among Treasury issues, highlighting the difference between the short maturities (which do not have any or only a little inflation risk) & the long ones which have to deal with more inflation risk over a longer period of time.

Alerian MLP Index --- 3 months




Dow Jones REIT Index --- 3 months

US Treasury Bonds Rates

Maturity	Yield	Yesterday	Last Week	Last Month
3 Month	0.01%	0.01%	0.03%	0.03%
6 Month	0.12	0.11	0.15	0.15
2 Year	0.73	0.72	0.76	0.94
3 Year	1.25	1.24	1.27	1.56
5 Year	2.17	2.18	2.18	2.44
10 Year	3.36	3.36	3.34	3.49
30 Year	4.29	4.29	4.28	4.29

Oil lost most of the AM gains, slipping into the middle of its 75-80 trading range. But gold continues being on fire, reaching new record levels again. The old adage about keeping 5-10% of assets in gold is getting more attention these days.

CLF10.NYM

..Crude Oil Jan 10

..77.66

.. 0.19 ......(0.3%)

GCX09.CMX

Gold Nov 09

..1,164.30

.. 17.90 ......(1.6%)

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The Wall Street Journal has an article about shopping for divs, many of these fine companies have been left behind in this year's bull market. S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats include:

Clorox (CLX)
Sysco (SYY)
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ & a Dow stock)
Merck (MRK & a Dow stock)
Procter & Gamble (PG & a Dow stock)
McDonalds (MCD & a Dow stock)

Shop for dividends in this aging bull market- WSJ


Stocks gave up a little ground in the PM, but still started the week with excellent gains & Dow is at new 2009 highs. This may holiday week may be good to stocks.

Dow Jones Industrials --- 3 months