Stocks continued to fall lower, testing some important resistant levels as the year end paint continues to peel off the tape.

The big tickle today was the fear of an economic contagion in Europe if Greece leaves the Euro, shocking the Eurozone banks with follow on effects in the US.

The continuing drop in oil prices also are shaking up the financial markets, as oil dropped below the $50 level for the first time in years.

Oil is falling from a perfect storm of slack demand because of the global economic slump, a supply glut due in large part to a market share war led by Saudi Arabia and political sanctions against Russia, and the unwinding of leveraged speculative positions in the oil sector.

There was little in the way of actual economic news today, more coming for the rest of the week including a Non-Farm Payrolls report.

I peeled off some of my downside stock bets towards the close. I also took a very small initial position in oil towards the close which may not last, depending on what I see for the rest of the week.

For the stock market as goes January, so goes the rest of the year. But as I previously noted, I tend to discount the positioning antics in the first week, which is often a carryover of antics from the year end.

Have a pleasant evening.