Wall Street Spreads Holiday Cheer, But Can it Last?

With Christmas season in full gear, the market has been giving us a pretty nice gift. And by nice, I mean a neat 4% up move this past week alone. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Unfortunately, all that entire rise has done is take us back to the top of the new trading range established back in late October. However, if the surge continues, perhaps early 2012 action will take us back to the July 2011 highs. That sure would be a nice way to start the year.

And speaking of the holiday, does anything say “holidays” more than those ubiquitous Lexus commercials?  The question is: do they work? The Toyota (NYSE:TM) chart says no, at least for now, but it soon may be time to buy.

And continuing our theme, it is hard to think of the shopping season without thinking of Macy’s (NYSE:M). How are they doing? Like the market they’re pretty much moving sideways, but perhaps with a “buy” signal ahead.

I do hope everyone has a happy holiday season. Enjoy the time off, however brief, and I’ll be back for one last 2011 column next week.