Bruce Bittles is the Chief Investment Strategist at Robert W. Baird &Co. Prior to his current position, he was our wonderful market technician when I was at JC Bradford & Co.

Bruce is one of those really talented guys when it comes to technical market analysis, and I have followed him closely throughout the years. With the S&P fighting to keep its head above the 1250 mark, here are some of Bruce's comments on the current market.

1) Long term prospects for consumer spending remain in doubt.
2) Falling prices at the pumps give shoppers extra dollars to spend at the mall during this critical shopping season.
3) Consumer spending will cool next year.
4) The current rally has pushed up against the August highs.
5) Rally has been less than impressive due to poor performance in the advance/decline line.
6) The retail group has enjoyed a nice rally since the October lows, and profits should be taken on gains into the holiday season.
7) Near term, the stock market is to remain in a trading range with risks to the downside of 1160, and rewards to the upside 1250.
8) Trends in the major indexes remain bullish and support rally attempts into year-end.
9)Skepticism is waining, and a significant overbought condition has emerged.
10) The next significant move may be towards support levels (1200 S&P, 2120 NASDAQ).
11) The lack of confirmation from the market breadth data suggests the recovery highs in the indexes will remain substantially intact.

Well, there you have it. Could it be that the year-end rally may not breakout afterall?