Holiday Trading Lacking in Cheer

The major indexes were red across the board, as the S&P relinquished all of its gains for the year to credit losses and underlying negative sentiment. Mortgage financers Freddie Mac and Countrywide have been at the center of a growing storm of losses, and there seems to be no end in sight to the bad news.

Retailers were in the spotlight today, with a number of major companies reporting, or scheduled to report later in the day. Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) beat expecations and was up on the day (full story). Gap (GPS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) fell as much 6% on negative speculation, and bounced on positive results (full story).

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index fell to 76.1 in November, down from 80.9 in October.

Crude oil rose to fresh record highs today, above $99 a barrel. The dollar hit new record lows versus the euro, and also hit 2-year lows on the yen.