Sang Lucci December 18th Pre-Market Update

With the markets closing at their highs yesterday and continuing in the afterhours session, it's not surprising that we're looking at the S&P 500 close to $1,440 this morning. Stocks across all sectors are gapping higher with the largest gaps taking place in the Financials. Indexes are, however, off of their premarket highs and individual stocks are starting to retrace back lower as the market eases lower into the opening. Boehner is releasing comments about the progress in the fiscal cliff talks at 9 AM this morning. Meanwhile, the major newswires are all citing the compromises both parties are making in the interest of solving the issues before time runs out. Obama has supposedly increased the minimum income that will be held accountable for tax increases to $400K from $250K. Knight Capital is torn between offers from Getco & VITU Financing. If Getco wins the bidding war, their volumes across all exchanges will increase quite substantially and their market share will subsequently grow. They already have a pretty big presence but this deal will solidify their position in the market making industry. We're expecting the markets to level off today but continue to hold that bullish sentiment experienced yesterday. The juice, however, will most likely flow out of the Financials and into something else. It will be very important to watch your sectors to figure out what is the laggard play for the day. GOOD MORNING YOUNG WORLD!