Con-so-li-da-ting...

The market rallied nicely to new highs in the first hour of the session. But after that, price consolidated and moved sideways for most of the day. It wasn't until the last 30 minutes until we broke the intraday trendline (see SPY-chart below). It was only a minor break lower though. Basically, not much happened today.

Daily charts look toppy with this small, no volume candle. But then again, this is the 'Santa-rally', a slow grind up that can last a couple more days if no major news interferes.

5m-chart SPY:

Daily charts DIA, SPY, QQQ and IWM:

Metals were down while stocks crawled to new highs. Oil on the other hand did very well, jumping over the 100-level once more and even trying to go for 102. The euro gained little and is still between 1.30 and 1.31.

Some articles for tonight:
Chinese Corporate Profit Growth Slows as Europe, Property Drag on Economy
Consumer, business spending point to slower growth
"Bracing for Another Wave of Foreclosures"
Chinese Central Banker Declares That 'Gold Is The Only Safe Haven Left'
(bear in mind, China is the world's largest gold producer and has the fifth biggest gold reserve)