The Santa Clause rally is continuing here in the U.S. while many markets are closed throughout the world.  Some retail stocks are enjoying nice gains, especially after the Mastercard spending report. The big winners are in Consumer Discretionary, which is the best performing sector, with Amazon (AMZN) leading the charge up 4% today, and over 50% on the year. The company reported a record-breaking holiday season.  Nordstrom (JWM) is also a big beneficiary, up 1.5% today, and is up 60% in the last year.  Technology is also a big winner, with AAPL continuing to rock higher.  Materials, Healthcare and Industrials lag today.

Initial claims for the week ending December 21 were as expected dropping by 13,000 to 222,000. The 4-week moving average, a better gauge, increased by 2,250 to 228,000.  Initial claims have been below 300,000 for 251 consecutive weeks, and despite the recent tick up, the numbers continue to point to a tight labor market.

• Continuing claims for the week ending December 14 declined by 6,000 to 1.719 million
• Four-week moving average for continuing claims rose by 19,250 to 1.7035 million

Meanwhile, Mortgage applications declined 5.3 percent in the week ending December 20, following a 5.0 percent drop in the previous week, as the average 30-year fixed rate went up 1 basis point to 3.99%.

• Refinance applications went down 5.1 percent
• Purchase applications decreased 4.8 percent