Thu 1/5/12 2:11 PM – US Stocks Refuse to Stay Down

For the 3rd day in a row US stocks refused to give in to a selloff and bounced back. However, they have not yet managed to push up above the resistance at 1280-1285 on the S&P 500.

Small stocks have been much more volatile and as has been the case for several months large companies have outperformed. Last year small stocks lost -5% while the broad market finished flat and large stocks finished up 2%.

Utilities are being sold so far this year as investors seem willing to take more risk and are dumping high dividend, slow growth utilities to pay for faster growth. January typically favors small companies but so far large stocks have maintained their lead.

The dollar is up sharply, gold is up 0.75%, oil is off slightly and bonds are slightly down.