MORNING COFFEE

Shoppers Spent Despite Economy.  According to MasterCard’s SpendingPulse total retail sales rose 3.6% between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. This year was a better year over 2008, store owners say they offered fewer discounts and managed to keep prices relatively steady.

Great Weekend To See A Movie.  Box office receipts shattered previous records, with Americans spending an estimated $278M over the three-day Christmas weekend. Avatar (NWS) led with $75M in sales, fueled by strong sales at large-screen Imax (IMAX) locations. The movie, which cost more than $300M to produce and another $150M to market, has already tallied global sales of $617M.

·         Futures: Dow +0.1% to 10473. S&P +0.2% to 1124. Nasdaq +0.4%.
Crude +0.35% to $78.32. Gold +0.7% to $1,112.30.
30-year Tsy -0.27% to 114-29. 10-year -0.24%. 5-year -0.19%. 2-year -0.05%.
Euro +0.2% vs. dollar. Yen flat. Pound +0.2%.

·         Asia: Nikkei +1.3% to 10634. Hang Seng -0.2% to 21480. Shanghai+1.5% to 3189. India: closed.

·         Europe at midday: CAC +0.8% to 3943. DAX +0.7% to 6001. London: closed.