“If humanity does not opt for integrity we are through completely. It is absolutely touch and go. Each one of us could make the difference.”  -- R. Buckminster Fuller

Barring a flock of Black Swans swooping down to descend on Wall Street, investor focus will inarguably be placed upon the political theater now playing out in Washington. Read more about ETF Periscope: Fiscal Cliff: The Only Two Words Investors Will Hear This Week

Clearly the market wants the fiscal cliff resolved and in a way that doesn’t destroy or seriously hurt the economy.  Today was proof.  President Obama and House Speaker Boehner’s 45 minute meeting generated a solid market advance in excess of 1%, despite a horrid Empire State Manufacturing index release.  The days remaining until “the cliff” are dwindling fast. Read more about What the Market Wants: We Need More Days like Today

“I think it's wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly.” -- Steven Wright

Ben Bernanke drew a solid line in the sand last week, announcing that the Federal Reserve was anchoring its rates to the unemployment rate. And, while not an action that changes much in the short term, it could prove to be the start of a more transparent Fed. Read more about ETF Periscope: Fed Offers Anchor as Solution to Choppy Economic Seas

Santa Claus is trying his hardest to keep spirits bright among stock investors. But the President and the House are not playing nice and just might find a lump of coal in their stockings. Neither appears willing to give an inch, so some observers predict that we will indeed go over the fiscal cliff, at least until mid-January. Read more about Sector Detector: Santa tries to “sleigh” the fiscal cliff

First and foremost, Happy Holidays to all!

While we wait to see if Washington is going to bring us Christmas cheer or Scrooge 2012 (beware of the 3^rd visitor which foreshadows the future), it is a good time of year to review the Dark Horse Traders’ Hedge portfolio.  I have one option trade to recommend and two positions that I would recommend taking gains on in 2012 and replacing with new positions. Read more about Dark Horse Traders' Hedge: It's Been a Long Way Down For Apple

We will definitely face more of the same this week as we have the past week.  There seems to be some progress between the President and Congress, but it’s anybody’s guess what combination of increased revenue and reduced expenses will survive political battle.  It will probably be some combination of increased taxes on the top 2% of our wealthiest citizens and some reduction in medical spending.  Who knows what else?  More on that later. Read more about What the Market Wants: Historical Tax Rates Provide Clarity

EQR offers clients an objective and unbiased assessment of a company’s relative potential risk due to accrual accounting practices as reflected in key relationships among information contained in the firm’s income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. Read more about Sabrient and Gradient Release Earnings Quality Rank (EQR), a New Quantitative Tool

“If all the economists were laid end to end, they'd never reach a conclusion.” --  George Bernard Shaw

The fact that Washington continues to act out its political theater in somewhat of a vacuum, as if its actions had little impact on the rest of the country, doesn’t seem to be fazing the U.S. equity market a whole lot at the moment. Read more about ETF Periscope: EU Banking Union Likely Will Remain Unconsummated for Now

I am not going to mention the nickname for the dominant issue of the day, since you are probably on the verge of screaming if you here it again (hint: initials are F.C.). But, unfortunately, we all remain hostage to the relentless political posturing of our elected officials during these critical budget negotiations. Not that we haven’t asked for it. Read more about Sector Detector: Tech shows best valuations as budget negotiation continues

Scott Brown, President of Sabrient Systems, will be live on the Business News Network at 1:30 pm PT to reveal Sabrient's top stock picks. http://www.bnn.ca/shows/the-close.aspx Read more about Scott Brown to Reveal Sabrient's Top Stocks on BNN