DC Lite #236

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1. ISM Services PMI. The index "rose to 56.0 in Oct, above the est of 53.8. Note the big increases in the Employment & Supplier Deliveries components--these are signs that businesses are preparing for and/or seeing increased demand."

2. Gold vs. election outcomes. "Gold tends to rally when there is a new president."

3. Funding spreads. "We track funding spreads as a proxy for the demand for levered equity upside from investors in futures, swaps and options ... Strong demand from professional investors typically suggests further upside for the SPX."

4. Top 10 valuations. "The average P/E ratio of the top 10 biggest companies in the S&P 500 is almost 50 ... Let’s hope we don’t have a recession anytime soon."

5. Earnings vs. valuation. "This one-two punch of earnings and valuation is somewhat unusual, since the multiple-expansion phase typically ends after a year of the start of a bull market, with earnings doing the heavy lifting after that ... earnings are doing the work, but valuations are helping a lot."