Dr Michael A. Yoshikami, President and Chief Investment Strategist of YCMNet Advisors talks about Chinese support for EU measures to tackle the debt crisis. He also talks about the rise in oil prices caused by the cold weather in Northern Europe and the US. He elaborates on his views that quantitative easing measures are good for the stock market in short term but will ultimately have a negative effect in the long term. He also believes that Asia has already stepped up to tackle the problem of hot money flows but there will not be an end to currency flows to the emerging markets.

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Malcolm E. Polley, President and CIO of Stewart Capital Advisors gave his comments on the US as a 'stronghold of safety', based on its size and liquidity. He adds that the US dollar will continue to be the currency of choice for international trade, despite news that Russia and China will trade in their own currencies. On the Korean conflict, Malcolm doesn't think that it has as significant an impact on the US as the focus is predominantly on the financial, materials and energy markets. On Chinese IPOS, he thinks they will continue to be a hot commodity in the US.

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Dodge O. Dorland, Chairman and CIO of Landor & Fuest Capital Managers, talks about the EU rescue fund and how investor expectations will be geared towards a developing resolution for the EU. He also believes there will be a positive momentum for the US rally and profit taking would only begin towards Mid-January next year. On US Treasuries, he believes that they are valued by the relative strength of the US economy to the European economy, rather than on absolute strength.

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Tim Mulholland, Managing Director, China America Capital Company talks about expectations of the two-day EU summit and gives his comments on the Spain debt crisis.

He also expects to see to some profit-taking on the US stock market as we approach the new year, and that the market will experience a slowdown going into 2011.

On the US government taking BP to court, he thinks this will have an isolated effect on the stock and those directly involved with the incident, although it will hasten service providers and oil companies to check on safety procedures.

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David Taylor, Market Analyst and Commentator, CMC Markets see a rush into safe haven assets such as the US dollar and gold from the threat of a credit rating downgrade in Spain and Belgium.

On the performance of commodities on Australian markets,  investors are cautious about impending US data and its effect on the Aussie dollar and commodities stocks. There has also been a lot of attention paid to the banking sector from government regulatory changes. Profits are seen to be stable, and the bad debt cycle is ending for the Big Four banks.  Going into 2011, the banking sector performance will depend on performances in commodities and discretionary stocks.

On interest rates in China, he notes that there has been prudent management from China and expects business as usual next year.

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Copper prices climbed to a record in London on Dec 14 and have jumped 24 per cent this year on speculation miners and recyclers are not producing enough supply to keep up with demand. Credit Agricole CIB Metals analyst Robin Bhar in London gave his views on what's next for the metal of the moment.

Copper prices are rising on genuine demand and supply reasons, though undoubtedly there is some speculation which is pushing the price higher.  House forecast is in the region of 5% for demand expansion, due to shortfall in supply. Price prediction for 2011 is not as high as Goldman Sach's prediction of $11,000 per tonne.

Credit Agricole's concern is substitution of copper with aluminium. Currently, price differential between copper and aluminium prices is almost four times. Higher prices will encourage substitution of copper with aluminium, which is an acceptable alternative in sectors such as power. Hence, aluminum prices could also increase next year because of substitution away from higher copper prices.

He also commented on reports that JP Morgan Chase will soon launch an ETF in copper and how JP Morgan Chase was alleged to have bought up more than half of all the copper reserves on the London Metals Exchange. As it is within rules of the exchange, the London Metal Exchange would be happy for this dominant position to exist, as long as the market remains orderly.

Copper is used as a thermal conductor, an electrical conductor, a building material and a constituent of various metal alloys.

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CIMB Futures GM Teoh predicts the market will enter into a bear trap phase this week; ie prices to soften giving the impression that bull run is over.
Market sentiment in vegetable oil market globally is still bullish. He talked about factors contributing to bullish market sentiment: supply tightening due to the seasonal monsoon, strong demand from China, CPO production levels, and adverse weather in soybean growing sectors as well as weak US Dollar. Bullish sentiment likely to persist if CPO prices can hold above RM3,700 level for the rest of 2010 and early next year.

CPO futures' price trading range for the next ten trading days is likely to trend from RM3,750 to RM3,550. The market can turn around abruptly when least expected. He is of the view that the market is headed in that direction, though not at this stage yet. Cited CPO bull run of 2007 -2008 where prices plunged from RM4,486 to RM1,330 in 8 months.

He also shared his technical trading strategy for the next ten days.

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Dr. Michael A. Yoshikami, President & Chief Investment Strategist of YCMNET Advisors talks about rising retail sales figures and the sustainability of economic growth going into 2011. He also comments on his year-end target for the S+P 500 index and equity growth expectations for 2011. He then comments on the resilience of the US banking sector to tighter capital requirements.

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Malcom E Polley, President and CIO of Stewart Capital Advisors, says that news of China reining in liquidity may not have a direct impact on US markets which is taking cues from domestic economic growth.

While US markets were flat at Monday's close, and the Nasdaq ended its 8-day winning streak, Malcolm believes the market is probably just taking a rest. A signal of whether consumers have returned will only be seen in January after the Christmas holiday season. Malcolm forecasts single digit growth for equity markets going into 4Q

On the selloff in US Treasuries, Malcolm believes it is a not related to the rally in equities. Fears of a bond bubble are worrying investors and he believes there will be pressure for bonds moving into 2011.

On the stronger US dollar, he attributes this to debt problems in Europe and investors still having confidence in the dollar as a safe haven.

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Chicago-based China-America Capital Company Managing Director Tim Mulholland thinks that the plunge in bond prices will affect housing prices and may be counterproductive to US intentions with QE2. However, the bond prices may also signal stronger eonomic activity. There will probably be a retracement but the highs we saw in November will last for a couple of months. He sees a correlation with capital flight in commodities in general, added to by by interest rate hikes in China.

On economic growth in the US, he adds that it will be difficult to make a case for robust growth even with the extension of tax cuts, and there is an overreaction in the market place with expectations running ahead of reality. On the higher costs of borrowings, Tim says the interest rates are still low from a historic standpoint.

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