Eoin Treacy's view Thanksgiving represents the busiest day of the year for US online retailers. Black Friday passed off with the usual scuffles, highlighting the desire of everyone to get in on a bargain as they start their Christmas shopping. Stock markets too have seen prices slashed over the last month.

Sentiment has deteriorated to abysmal levels. Some notable evidence of this has been the increasingly popular fire and brimstone approach to analysis. More than a few "It is God's will" style reports have crossed my desk. When markets fall, blame tends to get sprayed around. Rather the opposite occurs for many as they rise, with self-aggrandisement the predominant trait. Both extremes are to be avoided.

In Comment of the Day last week David and I highlighted how attractive the yield on some stock market indices had become as well as the consistency of relative strength and temporal leaders. Most stock markets and commodities performed impressively during October but gave up much of their gains in November. Short-term oversold conditions are widely observable in stock markets. Concurrently, the US Dollar has become overbought.

We have hypothesised that the October lows represented the bottom of what we described as a short, sharp bear market. If that view is to prove correct, most stock markets will have to hold above those lows. So far this month, the majority have returned to test those levels but today's upward dynamics suggest demand is beginning to return to dominance and at a progressively higher level among the leaders..

This is still a highly volatile, uncertain environment dependent on news flow and the activities of highly leveraged traders. However, that should not eclipse the perception of value where it is evident. A secular bull market is evident in some multinational companies we have described as Autonomies. Many are among some of the best relative and absolute performers in their respective stock markets which supplements that view. Provided last week's lows hold, the upside can be given the benefit of the doubt for at least for the short term and probably the medium-term.

The S&P 500 posted a third lower rally high in late November and has fallen back below the 200-day MA to test the lower side of the August/September range. Today's upward dynamic is the first indication of activity to pressure short positions. Follow through tomorrow would lend further credence to the short-term bullish outlook. A sustained move above 1300 would break the medium-term progression of lower rally highs and confirm a return to medium-term demand dominance. The FTSE-100 has a similar pattern.

During October, Germany's DAX Index rallied from deeply oversold levels to close the overextension relative to the 200-day MA. It encountered resistance and pulled back sharply. Today's upward dynamic suggests at least some short covering is underway.

India's Nifty Index has posted a progression of lower rally highs since retesting the 2008 peak late last year. It rallied well today from the region of the reaction lows and a countermanding downward dynamic would be required to question potential for some additional upside.