S&P 500

Global markets begin the last full week of trading of the year in subdued fashion, with U.S. equity futures rising 0.1%, to 2,258.5, European shares decline halting two straight weeks of gains, and Asian shares hitting a four-week low. The Dollar extends losses, yen and gold rise amid geopolitical concerns as the fallout from China's seizure of a U.S. continues to reverberate. Volumes are thinning before the December holiday season and end of the year, with trading in German bund futures about half the average for the past five days.

Two years ago, as part of its one-year forward forecast issue, the ten "experts" polled by Barron's in its one year forward forecast, predicted that the S&P would close 2015 an average of 2210, roughly 7% higher then the final print of 2014, which was at 2,058.9.

In his characteristic third-person style, One River Asset Management's Chief Investment Officer Eric Peters takes on all-comers in his latest letter to investors; lamenting the rapidity of losses, juxtaposing Michelle Obama's "hopeless" America with the US equity markets' near-record "hope", and denouncing the scourge of risk managers everywhere - central bankers...

Hope all goes well...

While the majority of sellside analysts predict that the impact of Trump's fiscal stimulus policies will be largely beneficial for US inflation and economic growth, if only in the short-term, with a knock on reverse effect following shortly after...

... one prominent strategist disagrees.

According to a recent report from Gluskin Sheff's David Rosenberg, in which he lays out is "out-of-the-box" call for 2017, "Trump will accidentally engineer a return to the disinflation trade" in the coming year, well ahead of most expectations.

Submitted by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

Dow 20,000

Last week, I noted the market’s push toward the market milestone of 20,000. To wit:

“The Dow broke above 19700 and is within striking distance of the ‘psychological’ summit of 20,000. With just 250 points to go, it is extremely likely traders will try and push stocks to that level by Christmas. Woo Hoo!”