Happy New Year
    With the start of a new trading year upon us, many questions need answering. Currently, the media has focused upon how we saw a number of negative economic developments during 2007 yet finished modestly higher. The hope is that most of the bad news is now and the past and we can take this market higher.
    Longer term, I am not optimisitc. I believe people are down playing the economic weakness and the extent to which the housing debacle may linger. On a short term basis, I am anxious to see what today brings. The Santa rally was unconvincing and the last few trading days showed prior leaders beginning to breakdown (ie – RIMM). The question arises whether this action was window dressing in a thin tape or an indication of what to expect going forward. As of now, futures point to a modest open and most names on my screen are higher. We will need to see this momentum sustain if the bulls are to grab the upper hand.
I am not too optimistic either. I feel that the volatility that we saw at the end of 2007 will carry on into 2008.