Is Santa Making A Comeback?

Stock prices rebounded solidly from yesterday's selloff. Better-than-expected news from Nike and FedEx helped reduce fears of a hard landing with free-falling earnings. So did a better-than-expected rebound in December's preliminary reading on the Consumer Sentiment Index (chart).

Tomorrow, November's Index of Leading Economic Indicators (Thu.) might revive recession fears if it is down for the 9th month in a row since peaking in February. But November's personal income report (Fri) should show that the PCED inflation rate is moderating, wages are rising faster than prices, and consumers are still spending.