Stability, Please

Technicals and fundamentals won't matter much this week. Having traded for the past 11 Thanksgiving weeks, I can't remember a week in which the volume wasn't low and the markets didn't belong to the fast-finger crowd rather than those looking for solid investment levels. Combine this low-volume history with a market that has been decimated, and I will not be expecting much by way of a trend over the coming two trading days. Wednesday volume will be light past 11:00 a.m., while Friday's volume will be almost nonexistent.

With some news this weekend about Obama shoring up his Cabinet and some discussion around saving Citigroup (C - commentary - Cramer's Take), the markets could see a low-volume continuation of the rally that began Friday. Just as previous rallies we've seen this year, don't expect any upside this week to spark investor interest for the remainder of the year. That kind of confirmation will come after Thanksgiving.

This week has a lot on tap, starting with existing home sales, then preliminary GDP and consumer confidence figures, ending with new home sales. Black Friday starts the holiday season, and we'll get more clarity around Obama's new administration with headlines to follow about pressing initiatives that he'll want to get started with in January.

At the very worst, I'd like to see these begin to create some sense of stability in investors' minds that things could finally change. If Citigroup can be saved in a way the market likes, and if we get some clarity about the automakers before the December holidays, investor confidence may finally start to stabilize.

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At the time of publication, Schumacher had no positions in the stocks mentioned, although holdings can change at any time.

Chris Schumacher is a financial trader, speaker, writer and co-author of Techniques of Tape Reading. While Schumacher cannot offer specific investment or trading advice, he appreciates your feedback; click here to send him an email.