Opening Market Overview

German Ifo Business Climate 109.3 107.9 107.4

Italian Retail Sales m/m -0.3% 0.4% 0.0%

Mario speaks @9:30.

Need European backstops for bank tests - ECB's Draghi

(Reuters) - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Friday that in addition to national backstops, joint European backstops need to be in place before the ECB's bank tests are finished in one year's time.

In the coming year, European authorities will stage a series of exercises to test the ability of its lenders to withstand a future crisis without resorting to taxpayer-funded bailouts.

The tests are billed as the most rigorous assessments the banks have ever had, designed to remove doubts about their health after botched EU stress tests in 2010 and 2011 which failed to reveal major problems at some lenders.

Midday Market Overview

CAD Core CPI m/m 0.2% 0.0% 0.2%

CAD Core Retail Sales m/m 0.0% 0.2% 0.4%

CAD CPI m/m -0.2% 0.2% 0.2%

CAD Retail Sales m/m 1.0% 0.3% 0.2%

Dow 20,000 here we come: It’s different this time

Watching the Dow Jones Industrial Average top 16,000, many investors are hoping this market is in a bubble (so they can shrewdly buy stocks at lower prices when it pops). But we have a long way to go for that.

Right now, the most important part of a bubble is missing — the mania. We need intoxicated investors, a buying frenzy, over the top speculation, and a get-rich-quick mentality. A bubble without a mania is like an ice cream sundae without a cherry. We can do better.

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End-of-day Market Overview

Thanks for your company. Have a great weekend all!

G.

And you - a tad cold here the last couple of days.