Today was probably the beginning of the trader exodus before the holiday. But they were buying as they walked out the door. SPX traded unchanged, closing at $1803, but RUT surged upward $10 to close at $1135. Volatility is unchanged with the VIX steady at 12.8%. Trading volume remains below average, but was up slightly with 2.1 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading. Trading volume on the NYSE increased 12% and increased 3% on NASDAQ. The net result was a mixed bag, with SPX trading flat and RUT setting a new all-time high.

Traditionally, the period between Thanksgiving and New Year's has been bullish. This year, it seems most analysts are predicting at least a minor pull back, if not a serious correction. So it will be interesting to see if the market shows any weakness after traders return next week. For now, it all looks very bullish.

Building permits issued for September and October were released today at 974k and 1034k, respectively. The Case Schiller housing price index turned in another hot month with prices increasing on an annualized basis of 13.3%. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index dropped again in November to 70.4 from the previous 72.4.

We will probably see trading volume drop off significantly tomorrow and the exchanges will close early on Friday, so most traders won't be back until Monday.

Do you have your turkey? (I know you have him. I meant the one for dinner Thursday.)