Looks Like a Great Day is Upon Us

The futures are pointing up to a brighter day today. It seems that Bernanke and the Fed think that the US economy is growing at a faster pace than the market thought. Something that was proven in the GDP number which came in at 2.2 percent versus the 1.8 percent expected. This kind of positive news has caused the stock futures to surge this morning. The S&P futures are up 4.70, the Dow futures are up 27.00 and the Nasdaq futures are up 9.75. All this good news points to a rally at the open. Let’s hope the markets can sustain the momentum through Christmas.

On the corporate news front, Pfizer announced it is cutting it’s sales force by 2,00 employees. Shares of Pfizer were up in European trading on the news, but I can’t see how cuts of this size to a group that bring in revenue can be good for the company. Also about half of Ford’s hourly workers have agreed to take early retirement packages, which puts Ford ahead of it’s reduction goals. On the Canadian markets, Bombardier reported earnings of 4 cents per share beating analyst’s expectations of 3 cents per share and last years lost of 1 cent per share.

Also today in Canada, the Liberal party leadership convention kicks off. With eight candidates in the running, this promises to be an interesting race to say the least. Right now there doesn’t appear to be any clear front runner so it’s anyone’s to win or lose. Balloting doesn’t start until Friday and a winner won’t be declared until Saturday, so it should be an interesting weekend for Liberals in Canada.