New Years Eve Edition

A good-natured crowd waits for the Waterford crystal ball to descend at 11:59 PM in Times Square as Mayor Michael Bloomberg pushes the button.
Confetti already falls-a test?.
Mayor Bloomberg was bitterly criticized for the lengthy snow-removal process,but all is clear tonight in Times Square.John Lennon's "Imagine" is sung to a crowd getting excired in their Nivea top hats.
A policeman takes pictures for people in the happy crowd-a lot of joy for 2011.Toshiba red.A neighbor sets off firecrackers.Happy New Year
The S&P futures are down 1.50,and Treasury bond and note futures rise in price,showing a slight lack of confidence in Monday morning.The holidays are ending,after all.Back to work at Toshiba!
At play in the last hours of 2010,Number 2 Ohio State dominated Indiana 85-67 in Big Ten basketball.

Bethlehem In Carol Fashion

The West Bank town of Bethlehem,homeland of all Christians,is truly peaceful this year.Palestinian choirs are able to travel there again,as Israel has lifted the roadblocks that troubled them previously.Boy Scouts paraded with bagpipes and kilts to the delight of the 90,000 pilgrims-up from 70,000 last year.Hotels are sold out,aiding the Palestinian economy greatly.The weather was spectacular Christmas Eve at 70 degrees F and sunny.It is a postcard Christmas,thanks be to God.
A very different postcard depicts Bishop Pass,California in the Sierra Nevada range.The alpine area is currently under 16.5 feet of snow.At 11,960 feet altitude-or 3645.4 meters-Bishop Pass is a popular hiking destination on Inyo National Forest,for those who don't mind the rocky conditions.
The NBA is gearing up for a smooth Christmas Day of many games,which ESPN and ABC will broadcast.
The stock market is resting at an S&P futures mark of -1.50,while the 10-year Treasury futures are flat.

Storm Has Few Clues,Light Market Week Ahead

Friday was a mixed night for Arizona basketball teams into the 2nd quarter.In Dallas,the Phoenix Suns trailed the Dallas Mavericks 48-38.Suns superstar Steve Nash was knocked out of the game in the 1st quarter when he was elbowed in the head.Nash was able to walk off the court to the locker room.Meanwhile,Arizona State nursed a slim lead over Nevada 56-52.
A storm approaching the East Coast puzzled forecasters because it originated over the Pacific Ocean,where there are few data collection points.The same obtains as it crosses the mountains.Finally,a huge blocking High off the East Coast is so rare,there are few data points to compare it with.The best guess is that the storm will stay farther out to sea,sparing the coast of anything besides snow showers.
Next week will be a quiet one for the market as the approaching Christmas holiday diminishes trading activity.New and Existing Home Sales reports will provide a little something for the light volume to react to.For the past week,the S&P nudged higher by 0.3.Looking to Monday's opening,S&P futures stepped back 0.10 Friday evening,while the 10-year Treasury futures saw a decline in yield and a gain in price.
Update:The basketball games finished as they were in the 2nd quarter,with Phoenix losing to Dallas 106-91,and Arizona State holding on to their slim lead for a 78-75 win over Nevada.

Rose Leads Bulls,Market Confident

Chicago native Derrick Rose led the Bulls to an 88-84 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at the United Center in the windy city Friday.The understated star bagged 29 points,9 assists and 5 rebounds.The Bulls brought a sellout crowd to its feet as the game remained competitive into the closing minutes.
Rose said they stayed together,fought through it and beat a good team,thanking God for the success.
The market saw its own success this week,as the Dow edged up 0.3,the S&P rose 1.3 and the NASDAQ added 1.8 for its highest close since December,2007.A consumer confidence reading also rose in November,reassuring the market that the economy is healing,however slowly.
Over a foot of fresh snowfall is powdering the West,reassuring skiers at Breckenridge,Colorado and Mt.Bachelor,Oregon.The Northeast is also cold,with Stowe,Vermont reporting 17F and light snow.
The S&P futures climbed 8.0 this evening,and bond futures also ascended.

Celtics Sharp,Jobs Meager

The Boston Celtics outshot the Chicago Bulls Friday night,ensuring their reputation as the sharpest team in basketball.The Celtics made 53% of their field goals,while Chicago made 41%.They were so good,the starters were given an extended rest on the bench during the second half.
The Boston fans were so relaxed by the dominant performance,they filled TD Garden with chants for their beloved Brian Scalabrine,who was sitting on the Bulls' bench,but had done yeoman's service for the Celtics the previous five years.Finally,Scalabrine got his chance in the last minute of the game,committing a foul and making one pass before the buzzer sounded.
Celtics starter Kevin Garnett embraced his old teammate Scalabrine after the game.
Rajan Rondo had 19 assists and 12 points for Boston.He said he doesn't know exactly how many assists he's getting,but he knows they're racking up.
Colorado is racking up impressive snowfall totals,with Crested Butte notching 93" so far this ski season.The U.S. economy,however,is not racking up enough new jobs,scoring a mere 39,000 for the 15 million job seekers in November.Wall Street shrugged this off,comforted by the Federal Reserve's certain support for the stock market.
The market was up for the week,with the S&P gaining 3.0.The S&P futures tacked on a further 0.80 Friday evening,and bond futures declined.

More Snow For Sierra Nevada,Charlotte Bobcats Warm

The Sierra Nevada range is looking for more snow this weekend.Up to a foot more will add to the several feet of snow pack already received recently.Snow will also sweep across Idaho and into Western Montana and Northwestern Wyoming,while the Great Lakes will register up to a foot of lake effect snow.
The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic were mainly clear and cold Friday night,with the lowest nighttime temperatures of the season expected in some areas.
The Charlotte Bobcats were warmed up Friday night by their 99-89 victory over the Houston Rockets,who were playing without their legendary big man,Yao Ming.Yao is injured and will probably be out for at least a few more weeks.
Chase Budinger led the Rockets with 19 points and 18 rebounds;the Bobcats were carried by Gerald Wallace with his 21 points and 14 rebounds,as well as Boris Diaw and his 20 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bobcats,6-10,shucked a 2-game losing streak,but the Rockets,4-11,have dropped 5 of the last 6 now.
The market was mixed this week as it fretted over European debt and Korean tension,while feeling more confident in consumer spending.The Dow fell 111.55 for the week,and the S&P stumbled 10.33.The tech-rich NASDAQ climbed 16.44.
The stock futures were uniformly negative Friday evening,given the geopolitical uncertainty,with substantial drops in all three index futures,and bond futures responded with a move upward.