A few bits and pieces:

Regarding the markets: Don't expect much volume this week, what with Thanksgiving and Black Friday and all. Do expect some mischief, price-wise, as low volume offers many opportunities for game playing.

In plain English: be skeptical of odd price signals.

Regarding the economy: The National Association for Business Economics panel of 50 top forecasters has rounded down its gross domestic product prediction for 2007 from 2.7% to 2.5%. They have also dropped their 2006 estimate from 3.4% to 3.3%. They blame it on the housing slump, but claim that the economy will not come to a complete standstill because of falling energy prices.

Next up: Trilby Lundberg reports that gasoline is up 5 cents across the nation, as travel demand ramps up. And snow was reported this morning here in Maryland, accompanied by a strange clicking sound across the state, reputed to be millions of thermostats kicking on simultaneously. 

Finally, my “one week ahead of Barrons'” streak continues: 12 days after I told WOW readers that Halliburton Co. (HAL:NYSE) was a screaming buy, Dimitra DeFotis reports that HAL's spinoff of KBR Inc. (KBR:NYSE) cleans up the books and refocuses the company. Is there an echo in the room? 

By the by: WaveStrength Options Weekly readers saw max gains of 81% on HAL… last week!

More good news for the print newspaper industry…

Not only has Google Inc. (GOOG:NASDAQ) coupled with newspaper groups to sell ads, but Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO:NASDAQ) is joining the game by helping to sell ad space and offer new search functions for print companies.

Obviously, the Internet industry sees its participation in the “renaissance” of print newspapers as a lucrative opportunity 

The main part of the deal is that employment advertisers in print papers will now be able to list the jobs on Yahoo's Hot Jobs, “which widens the appeal of print ads.”

This kind of news continues to support why I'm bullish on all of the publicly-traded print newspaper groups.

Material Profits

Oil prices are down 50 cents this morning, but up over $58 per barrel because of front-month futures expiration. January 2007 is now what's trading, and of course, its up about $3.00 a barrel compared to Friday's numbers. 

While oil prices slid a bit last week (mostly due to profit taking during expiration week) gasoline prices are slightly rising. It is the holidays, after all.

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