Making My List

We know Christmas is right around the corner as the year winds down into the winter months. It certainly feels cold outside already. And, I started making my list last week. No, not a Christmas present list but a 2010 stock list of what I would own if the market allows me. I will reveal some picks over the next few weeks.

No doubt the market has been riding high. Dow 10,000 is a reality. What continues to bother me is that Wall St is celebrating by drinking dollars but Main St is held hostage to unemployment, lower wages, lower asset values. Main St is not healthy but Wall St continues to price in what she expects to be a much healthier economy.

I see no signs of that yet. Companies are still routinely missing top line numbers. Unemployment is still increasing albeit it at a decreasing rate. Banks are still not lending despite historically low rates. Existing banks still wrestle with ugly balance sheets that are riddled with credit issues that only they know of, if they know. The FDIC continues its torrid pace of taking over troubled banks. The list can go on.

Some market strategists have indicated that we're not going to see another big correction this year. The strongest point pronounced is that since the market has run so much this year that those fund managers underperforming will be buying any and all "intraday" dips. Of course, retail traders will in exchange see what they perceive as a strong market. Same old story. Good luck.