Despite a spate of unsettling news--the big snowstorm slamming into the East Coast, Russia's credit downgrade to junk status, and the elections in Greece (and what it might mean for the fate of their presence in the EU), the bulls managed to stay in control of the market. Not only did all the major averages manage to close in the green, but even more surprising was that the VIX, a measure of fear and uncertainty, dropped nearly 7% to close just above the bull/bear dividing line at 15. Judging from the fact that up volume was more than twice down volume, it appears as if January could go out on the plus side.

There was a lot of action to the upside today. While biotech/pharma etfs (IBB, FBT, BBH, PJP) continue to soar, there's one area that's been rallying under the radar: Japanese stocks. The devaluation of the yen by the Japanese central bank has lit a fire under Japanese industry (which is what it was supposed to do). In particular, the stocks of Sony (SNE, $23.37) and Toyota (TM, $131.86) have been moving up and their charts over the past 6 months have been nearly the mirror image of the movement in the Yen (FXY). Today, both Sony and Toyota jumped over major resistance levels to hit new yearly highs on heavier than normal volume. Technically, Sony won't face another major challenge until the $34-$35 range (approximately 45% above today's closing price). However, Toyota is less than 5% from testing its all-time high of $138 reached in early 2007, but should it hurdle that, the sky's the limit. Both companies pay dividends: 2.2% yield for Toyota and 0.9% for Sony. There are options on both stocks as well.