Waiting on a compromise

Hello traders everywhere! Jeremy Lutz here with your mid-day market update for Thursday, the 20th of December.

The big news of that day is that the NYSE Euronext, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, planned to sell itself to IntercontinentalExchange, an upstart and lesser-known exchange operator based in Atlanta. NYSE Euronext's stock surged 34 percent. IntercontinentalExchange fell to a low of $123.46. That signals traders think the proposed deal could be more beneficial to NYSE Euronext than to its potential buyer. The marriage still needs the approval of regulators, and it isn't clear if they'll offer it.

Uncertainty about the approaching fiscal cliff is still heavily weighing on the markets today as the deadline approaches. In other news, The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales rose 5.9 percent to an annual rate of 5.04 million in November from a downwardly revised 4.76 million in October. Economists had expected existing home sales to climb to 4.90 million.

With the bigger than expected increase, existing home sales rose to their highest level since spiking to 5.44 million in November of 2009.

Let's see what the Trade Triangles say about the markets today.

Every Success,
Jeremy Lutz