No Holiday Cheer for the Dollar

Also Wednesday, the University of Michigan revised its consumer sentiment survey to 92.1 from 92.3 previous and vs. expectations for an upward revision to 93.0.

Even with the flat returns on the major indices Wednesday, there were some dramatic moves in the market ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, and symbolic ones at that. The retail sector heads into the shopping season with a set of strong gains.

Shares of J. Crew(JCG Quote) gained 14.6% on news the company beat earnings estimates. Payless Shoesource(PSS Quote) shares jumped 14.2% on news the company inked a deal with Exeter Brands Group, a division of Nike Brands(NKE Quote), to design athletic shoes. And, BJ's Wholesale Club's(BJ Quote) shares gained 9.89% on news the company's CEO Mike Wedge plans to step down.

On the flip side, shares of General Motors(GM Quote) were under pressure Wednesday, closing down 4.7% on news that shareholder Kirk Kerkorian, head of Tracinda Corp., recently lowered his stake in GM to 7.4% from 9.9%.

GM's guardian angel may be stepping aside, but there is redemption in this pre-Thanksgiving tale even without Kerkorian or George Bailey getting involved. The dollar stepped back from the ledge and the stock market spent the bulk of another week not correcting. Happy Thanksgiving, Mr. Potter.