S&P 500 bulls have pushed the index rather stoutly back above support at 1340. Such a rebound is not uncommon. Lack of follow-through bad news overnight may give the bulls some time to catch their breath and build some confidence for a rally. Art Cashin, veteran floor trader for UBS over several decades, says today's bullish move is a reflex rally. If so, it is a rather forceful one, with the Dow more than 160 points higher this morning on good, but not great, retail sales data. Retail sales were up a mere 1%, but still more than expected. One would have expected much better retail sales results with all that debt-dripping stimulus from the government, I would think. Often in months past, when the data was analyzed, it was clear that the stronger retail sales were in grocery stores and gas stations, which only stimulate higher inflation, not economic recovery. Time will tell in the next few days.Still, a 160-point move higher seems a bit strong for such impotent data. Some firings at Lehman Brothers may also be having an impact on stocks by inspiring renewed confidence on Wall Street that the financials may be looking up. For some reason, on Wall Street, bad news is often seen as good news because it fosters a (mostly false) sense that the market is now turning higher.
Who knows! Perhaps the stimulus checks are having an impact! Personally, I'm skeptical!
