Cyber Monday lived up to its expectations, but it only lived up to expectations, leaving room for doubt about the rest of the holiday shopping season. Whether it is shopping the market or most things in the nation, these days are just unenthusiastic.  This lull is the perfect backdrop for something to hit the market despite the old axiom about shorting a dull market.

This market is desperate for great news, even if it means doing the old green shoots approach of making big deals out of otherwise mundane news.  Even with that formula in mind, Cyber Monday came up short.

• $2.9 billion in sales
• +12% year-to-year
• +215 mobile sales

Technically, the results couldn’t come at a worse time as the most successful of retail exchange-traded funds (ETFs – RTH) is peaking at a serious resistance point that’s triggered big selling in the past.  I’d like to see RTH hold around 78.

The good news for this ETF is the top holdings.  In a market obsessed with momentum, winners there are carrying RTH; then again, this has been true for the entire market.

Restaurants

Just as retail would be the logical beneficiary of increasing wages and cheaper gasoline… so, too, are restaurants.

Yet most of the biggest and most successful names in the sector have taken it on the chin of late.

I keep looking at Chipotle (CMG) and Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD).  They look like screaming buys, even if the only ones screaming of late are shareholders.

However, it’s hard to imagine that there are several more runs to the upside; the stories didn’t change overnight.

While the information from the industry sees strong current conditions, there’s more caution with expectations.

Like the general market, there will be a rotation point that sees money come out of the momentum darlings into oversold value names, and retail and restaurants will be big winners.

Today’s Session

Equity futures are holding in there nicely.  There’s a fair amount of economic data to parse but it’s unlikely to have a major sway over broad market.   Upside bias even if at the open is important, but at some point, the inability to breakout means a sharp pullback.  This is the week market needs to see an upside surprise on jobs to make Fed rate hike palatable.

 It’s all touch and go.