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FirstAlert(tm) Daily 12/30: Looking Back And Ahead

- Commentary -

December 30, 2009 (Financialwire) (By Dr. Joe Duarte) — The S&P 500 SPDR ETF (NYSE: SPY) has been in rally mode for six of the last seven days. That means that the market is due for some kind of consolidation. That means that the big questions will linger, even if stocks manage to squeeze out gains for the rest of the week.

And the questions this time around are huge. Internationally, there is the Middle East, with Iran, Iraq, and Israel seeming to be intertwined in a dangerous dance with oil and nuclear issues in the mix. The recent terrorist attack and the political tug of war inside the Kremlin, along with the steady advance of totalitarianism in Venezuela, and an increasingly bloody drug war in Mexico place the American hemisphere in a different light.

Domestically, the health care debate has at least one more controversial leg waiting in the wings as the House and the Senate haggle over details. Polls continue to spell trouble for the Democrats, but the election is still months away and a lot can happen from now until then, adding yet another layer of uncertainty for investors to sort through.

From a big picture standpoint, the Presidential Cycle has been put to rest, as the first year of the Obama presidency was a big up year for stocks. What will happen in year two is clearly unclear, just as Chaos Theory terms the Universe predictably unpredictable.

Beyond politics, science may be the place where old beliefs get blown out of the water. There is now significant evidence out there that invisibility is possible. And scientists may have proven the existence of “dark matter” the stuff that holds the Universe together. The technological implications of those discoveries may make the iPhone look like a stone club lying next to a crude fire in prehistoric times.

Closer to home, we spent some time this afternoon at the neighborhood Lowe’s. It was actually busy. And the sales people were hurrying about, helping customers who wanted to buy things. Putting on the scribe hat, we asked the fellow who was helping us with the Honey Do list a couple of questions about business. He told us that business has been picking up and that the spring looks to be busy as gardening season approaches.

From the political, both domestic and international, to the scientific, to the downright mundane, 2010 promises to be more significant in many ways than the even more remarkable 2009 was. For investors, that means that paying attention to detail and having an open mind will likely pay off.

[Go to http://www.financialwire.net/?s=joe+duarte to see more commentaries by Dr. Joe Duarte.]

The FirstAlert(tm) Economics Calendar lists Chicago PMI Index for December (10 a.m.), EIA Petroleum Inventories (10:30 a.m.), Treasury auctions 7-year notes (1 p.m.).

FirstAlert(tm) Website of the Day: http://www.nezrays.com/

Quote of the Day: “You can’t get the Monkees back together as a rock’n'roll group. That would be like Raymond Burr opening up a law practice.” Michael Nesmith

Today is: Falling Needles Family Fest Day.

Happy Birthday: Rudyard Kipling, Bert Parks, Jack Lord, Bo Diddley, Sandy Koufax, John Hartford, Mel Renfro, Michael Nesmith, Davy Jones, Suzy Bogguss, Matt Lauer, Sean Hannity, Jason Behr, Tiger Woods, Eliza Dushku, Ryan Sheckler.

Today in History: The United States, in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase, bought land from Mexico in 1853 to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest. The U.S.S Monitor sank in 1862 off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. José Rizal was executed by firing squad in Manila in 1896. Edwin Hubble announced the existence of other galaxies in 1924. The United Auto Workers union staged its first sit-down strike in 1936. California opened its first freeway in 1940, the Arroyo Seco Parkway. The Smothers Brothers played their last show (Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas) in 1976. The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2C was recorded in 1995 at Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands, equaling the record set at Braemar, Aberdeenshire on February 11, 1895 and January 10, 1982.

[FirstAlert(tm) was created by Gayle Essary, founder of Investrend Communications, Inc., parent of Investrend Information. The opinions expressed in FirstAlert(tm) do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Investrend.]

Free annual reports and company filings for companies mentioned in the news are available through the Investrend Information Syndicate (at http://investrend.ar.wilink.com/?level=279). Recently issued reports and filings include Weatherford International Ltd. (NYSE: WFT), UQM Technologies, Inc. (AMEX: UQM), Panhandle Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE: PHX), Encore Acquisition Company (NYSE: EAC), Altius Minerals Corp. (TSX: ALS), PKC Group Oyj (PLUS: PKC1V) and Standard Life Investments European Private Equity Trust PLC (LSE: SEP) (PLUS: SEP).

FinancialWire(tm), in cooperation with the Investrend Broadcast Syndicate, also provides complete, daily conference call and webcast schedules as a service to shareholders and investors via the FirstAlert(tm) Network’s “FirstAlert(tm) Daily” (http://www.financialwire.net/news-alerts/). Recently webcast company presentations, financial results & earnings calls now available include Rick’s Cabaret International, Inc. (NASDAQ: RICK) and Applied Signal Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: APSG). Recordings are accessible via the search function at http://infoescrow.net/f/?u=http://www.investorcalendar.com by entering any company’s ticker symbol into the search field.

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