Daily Data Flow: U.S. Stocks Up; Euro Falls; Echoes of 1987

U.S. Stocks Rise as Data Overshadow Fiscal Cliff Concern (Bloomberg)
U.S. stocks rose, trimming the biggest weekly drop since June in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as data showing consumer confidence climbed to a five- year high offset concern about fiscal cliff negotiations. “The consumer sentiment data was a strong number and that has given the market some strength,” Timothy Ghriskey, the chief investment officer at Solaris Group LLC, which manages about $2 billion in Bedford Hills, New York, said in a phone interview. “Yet people are focused on news about the discussions on the fiscal cliff. There does seem to be a movement to force our politicians to come to an agreement so we don’t fall into a recession.”

Euro At Two Month Low vs. Dollar On European Growth Concerns (Reuters)
The euro dropped to a two-month low against the U.S. dollar on Friday and could extend losses further as fears mount that the euro zone’s debt crisis and deteriorating economic conditions could drag down global economic growth. Growth in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is likely to slow in the fourth quarter and the first three months of 2013, the Economy Ministry said. Industrial production in France, Europe’s second-largest economy, shrank in October and the country’s central bank said it expected to slip into recession at the end of 2012.

Stocks’ Recent Path Echoes 1987 Crash Prelude (Marketwatch)
The Dow Jones Industrials have fallen 450 points over the past two days, and a lot of the blame has been placed on the re-election of the president. But anyone paying attention to the market over the past three months recognizes that the peak was actually made the week that the Federal Reserve announced a third round of quantitative easing. That was expected to be a positive event, but in retrospect, it ushered in a rolling thunder of value-eroding news events.