Thanksgiving Week

S&P 500: +14.86 (+1.36%)

A few fun Thanksgiving week facts about the Dow Jones Industrial Average:

1. Over the past 59 years, the DJIA averaged a gain of 0.76% during Thanksgiving week.
2. The DJIA has ended the Thanksgiving week higher in 38 of the last 59 years – roughly 64% of the time.
   

I will attempt to keep with the Thanksgiving theme for the rest of the week (no promises though). Here goes nothing…


Market’s got off to a nice start this week as investors piled back into the risk trade following St. Louis Fed President James Bullard’s dovish remarks on interest rates. Stock investors are thankful (for now) for extended easy money policy. They were also thankful for today’s lower-than-average volume, which probably helped enhance gains.

Telecom led the market higher as AT&T (T) received several upgrades, including a positive write-up in Barron’s. AT&T is thankful there is an App for that. Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel is expected to close its acquisition of Virgin Mobile USA on tomorrow. Sprint is thankful they are surviving against much bigger rivals AT&T and Verizon.

Health-insurance stocks were particularly strong after a JPMorgan Chase analyst pointed out that managed care companies trade at a 40% discount to the S&P 500. These shares are also gaining amid growing doubts regarding a public health plan option. Managed care companies are thankful for centrist Democrats who disapprove of a proposed government-sponsored health plan option.

Treasury prices remained low after the $44 billion two-year note auction, the first leg of this week’s record $118 billion government note sales. The U.S. government is thankful for demand from foreign investors.


Quick Hits

• How Overrated is Sentiment in Economics?
• Fed’s Bullard: Asset Buying Efforts Should Remain Active
  

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Peter J. Lazaroff, Investment Analyst