The holiday spirit continues today in the market as the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all are trading at or near all-time highs. Investors are continuing to bet that the Fed will begin cutting rates in March (the FedWatch tool is now at a 75% chance of a 25-bps cut).

The 10-year yield is down again today to its lowest level since July, trading around 3.8%.

Six of the S&P 500 sectors are in the green with Consumer Discretionary leading and Communication Services lagging.  Oil prices are down today as some shippers return to the Red Sea eases a bit.  WTI is down to $75. `

Advancers lead decliners and new highs continue to crush new lows, a sign we love.

On the economic front, the Richmond Manufacturing Activity Index remained in negative territory and declined to -11 in December from -5 in the prior month.  Most firms saw their backlog decline, remaining in negative territory, despite vendor lead time improving.

Prices paid as well as prices received improved marginally over the next 12 months. 

• Shipments -17 from -8
• New orders -14 from -5
• Employment -1 from 0