“We’ll soon see if the rise off the summer low in confidence translates into a good gain in holiday sales,” Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, noted in emailed commentary.
Well, let's see, all forward looking data in the US is getting pretty strong. More people are keeping their jobs, production is up, confidence is up. From where we sit, 2012 is looking to be a pretty good year. Don't be foolish enough to miss this EOY rally.
and he is foolish if his buying the rally. 
Despite tumbling as much as 5% earlier today, the CBOE Volatility Index (^VIX) could be the most bullish indicator on the Street. Sometimes referred to as "the fear indicator," the VIX has been in a downward trend through most of December, dropping nearly 10% in the last two last two sessions, and currently inching below it's 200-day moving average of roughly 25.75
There's also some other economic data coming out from Europe that is not too good after all. Im wondering too
that perhaps because other countries are slowing it is allowing the US to pick up commensurate with the pulling back of those other economies. Official figures have provided the clearest evidence yet that Britain is heading back into recession after activity in the UK’s powerhouse services sector slumped in October at its sharpest rate since April.
The turmoil of the eurozone crisis hit the French economy harder than first thought forcing a revision of the country’s third quarter growth figures down to 0.3pc from 0.4pc.
Russia's central bank cut its main refinancing rate for the first time since June 2010 on Friday citing uncertainties about global economic growth.
The bank said its cut of 25 basis points to 8pc was "based on the assessment of inflationary risks and risks to stable economic growth, including those caused by uncertainty over the foreign economic situation".
It marks the first time that rates have come down in Russia since June 1, 2010, and underscores concerns over how Europe's sovereign debt problems may affect the domestic financial sector.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned starkly on Thursday that a "global economic depression could last several years" and called for new efforts to step up the country's business competitiveness.
