Well, it appears as if the Santa Rally is back on track--at least for today. At mid-day, all sectors were trading in the green. Leading the charge were Retail (RTH, XRT), Utilities (XLU), Tech (XLK), and Real-estate (VNQ, DRN) which all opened above recent resistance to notch new highs. Notable gainers in the utilities sector are Ameren (AEE, $44.8) and Allete (ALE, $54.5). Both broke out of six week bases to push to new highs.

While the Healthcare etv (XLV) didn't hit a new high, it's 2% rally reflected the bullish action in the space. Hitting new highs today were the following healthcare suppliers and providers: Inogen (INGN), Molina Health (MOH), Health Net (HNT), Healthways (HWAY),and Resmed (RMD). All of these stocks have been in rally mode for six months to a year, and while upward momentum is still in their favor, any change in Obamacare by the Republicans could spell an end to the bull run in healthcare issues.

Another bright spot today was in Consumer Staples. Two widely held issues jumped to new highs. The first is Kraft Foods (KRFT). The maker of highly processed GMO fast food products (not that I have an opinion on this) jumped 6% on more than twice normal volume following today's announcement of a CEO shift. The second is 3M (MMM) (which can also be classified as an industrial conglomerate, depending on one's point of view). Yesterday, the company announced that its raising its dividend by 20% which is news that never seems to bore investors. The downside is that the company's valuation is lofty compared with its peers which could be justified or not.

For the sake of the bulls, let's keep our fingers crossed that Santa can stay in his sleigh until the end of the year!