The stock market continued to hit record highs this week based on those factors we've discussed here for the last few months:good corporate earnings;a rebound from the October correction; unrealized Southeast Asia fears , especially for big tech stocks; perking up in Europe; bottoming out in Asia; and continued inflows of money into the stock market (bless those 401Ks!). The big beautiful growth stocks are leading as usual, and small caps still lag.

If all is pretty much okay with the economic world, what is going to impact the market? Subtle stuff, such as the rush in D.C. to spend the budget surplus. What Congress and the President decide to spend on, e.g., an increase in the minimum wage, tax cuts,etc., could affect the overall market as well as individual stocks. Keep an eye on who gets the goodies and when the largesse will have an impact.

Oil prices continue to weaken. OPEC made a strategic error by increasing production just ahead of the slump in Asia and the balmy El Nino-induced winter (at least here in Minnesota, Garden Spot of the Nation, where we haven't had a good ice storm in years and where hurricanes, typhoons, and mudslides just don't happen).


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