There are five bullish signs coming out of corporate suites that indicate we're headed out of the recession and into a sustained recovery, according to Samuel Fromartz of Fidelity.  The signs include insider buying, and Mr. Fromartz points to the Claymore/Sabrient Insider ETF (NFO) as evidence, mentioning that NFO has risen 105% since the market low in March.   Read the entire article here.

Last week the market (S&P 500) battled resistance at the 1100 mark as if it were in the yawning sand trap at #14 on Pebble Beach – and Tiger Woods can't help us out just now.

It was yet another week of hanging around the1100 mark with the S&P500. It's not that there weren't important developments during the week. The trade deficit narrowed much more than expected, and retail sales got a substantial boost in November. Retailers alone sold $314.1 billion of goods, 1.4% more than in October and 2.2% more than a year earlier.

The market ended last week in a good mood, but is still struggling to gain enough traction for a sustained breakout beyond 1100 on the S&P500. The question in everyone’s mind:  Is it simply consolidating in preparation for a big Santa Claus rally? There are certainly plenty of market observers on both sides of the fence.