Sang Lucci Pre-Market Update January 9th

Markets are positive this morning after an upbeat earnings report from Alcoa

. That name unofficially kicks off the earnings season so most investors watch it to provide them with a gauge for the whole season. Of course, it's a bit premature to say all Q4 earnings will come in better than expected but it's at least a positive note that investors have used to justify adding more risk. Bank of America

got a downgrade this morning from Credit Suisse, citing that valuations have run up too high too quickly. Ironically, the $.10 cent sweep back to $12 at the close yesterday now looks like a setup by an insider who knew this news was coming out this morning. The other Financials haven't followed suit with BAC's weakness in the premarkets here so it may not be a sector-wide sell today. Credit Cards are getting upgraded left and right after the Consumer Credit figures came out much higher than expected mostly due to student loans. Both Visa

& Mastercard

are gapping to all time highs this morning. Casinos are in the spotlight as well, with MGM

being approved for a new casino in Macau. Las Vegas Sands

continues its path to the heavens as well. The market is toppy up here with the SPDR S&P 500

at $146 and because of the consolidation, you can see both sides of the spectrum playing out with a tug of war between the bulls and bears to figure out where the next break in the indexes will be. Some sectors are weak while others continue to remain bullish. We're seeing the indexes trade up and down with no real conviction as well making it difficult to hold daytrades for a decent period of time. The strategy now has to be scalping until we get a clear direction from the markets. GOOD MORNING YOUNG WORLD!