Pre-market - January 5 - 2nd trading day of the year - 7:50 am

Futures flat this morning before some important economic data.

Today's economic calendar:
Motor Vehicle Sales
ICSC-Goldman Store Sales 7:45 AM ET
Redbook 8:55 AM ET
Factory Orders 10:00 AM ET
Pending Home Sales Index 10:00 AM ET
4-Week Bill Auction 11:30 AM ET

Today's earnings reports:
Before open: NONE

After close:
ANGO AngioDynamics Inc. Healthcare Medical Instruments & Supplies
LNDC Landec Corp. Basic Materials Synthetics
MG Mistras Group, Inc. Services Technical Services
SNX SYNNEX Corp. Services Business Services
SONC Sonic Corp. Services Restaurants
TISI Team Inc. Services Business Services

Upgrades:

QCOM	QUALCOMM Inc.	Technology	Semiconductor - Integrated Circuits
KCI	Kinetic Concepts Inc.	Healthcare	Medical Appliances & Equipment
ZMH	Zimmer Holdings Inc.	Healthcare	Medical Appliances & Equipment
ERIC	LM Ericsson Telephone Co.	Technology	Communication Equipment
IPI	Intrepid Potash, Inc.	Basic Materials	Nonmetallic Mineral Mining
POT	Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc.	Basic Materials	Agricultural Chemicals
AVY	Avery Dennison Corporation	Consumer Goods	Paper & Paper Products

Downgrades:

V	Visa, Inc.	Services	Business Services
CXO	Concho Resources, Inc.	Basic Materials	Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration
BEXP	Brigham Exploration Co.	Basic Materials	Independent Oil & Gas
COG	Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.	Basic Materials	Independent Oil & Gas
SPW	SPX Corporation	Industrial Goods	Diversified Machinery
FNF	Fidelity National Financial, Inc.	Financial	Surety & Title Insurance
CHKP	Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.	Technology	Security Software & Services
RGC	Regal Entertainment Group	Services	Movie Production, Theaters
BFRM	BioForm Medical, Inc.	Healthcare	Medical Appliances & Equipment
FSP	Franklin Street Properties Corp.	Financial	REIT - Diversified
SLGN	Silgan Holdings Inc.	Consumer Goods	Packaging & Containers
PNY	Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Inc.	Utilities	Gas Utilities
XEL	Xcel Energy Inc.	Utilities	Electric Utilities
GAS	Nicor Inc.	Utilities	Gas Utilities
TE	TECO Energy Inc.	Utilities	Electric Utilities
HMSY	HMS Holdings Corp.	Services	Business Services

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Today's reading as I find them

From Bloomberg - No Good Deed Goes Unpunished as Banks Seek Profits
From Bloomberg - Iceland to Hold Referendum on Icesave Bill After Grimsson Veto
From Reuters - UPDATE 2-Mesa Air Group files for bankruptcy, to cut fleet
From Telegraph UK - Pimco move to sell gilts raises spectre of a UK sovereign debt crisis
From MarketWatch - 12:30 - Fitch cuts Iceland's rating to junk status
From the WSJ - 9:06 - Whitney Downgrades Goldman

Market wrap - 4:14 pm

The market gapped up big this morning and rose right from the start. All indexes participated in the action. A weaker dollar helped oil and gold to rise, both saw the best gains in weeks. Morgan Stanley upgraded by two European banks, UBS and Credit Suisse with a price target of $37.00. The BKX, banking index rose .97 or 2.27%. What did not participate were the REIT's and Housing sector, as the IYR (Real Estate) ETF dropped .11 or .24% to $45.81. That is a bit strange. They usually trade along with the banks.

Both 3 and 6 month Bill auctions went well, and the Construction and ISM Manufacturing numbers came in a bit better than expected. Numbers overnight from China manufacturing numbers came in hot overnight which helped the market to it's higher open. You can read the MarketWatch report here, but stated;

A key measure of Chinese manufacturing reached a 20-month high in December, according to media reports Friday.

The purchasing managers' index (PMI) jumped to 56.6 in December from 55.2 in the previous month, Reuters reported, citing China's Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

It was the 10th straight month that the index has stood above of 50, indicating an expansion of activity, according to the report, and represents the biggest month-on-month rise since March.

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As I find news of note, I will add it here.

From the Wall Street Journal this afternoon - Bankruptcy Filings Rise 32%, Top 1.4 Million

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1 Year Chart of the S&P 500(daily).