“While markets often make double bottoms, three pushes to a high is the most common topping patterns” — J. Bollinger

1. Government Eyed Refi Program Expansion — The Obama administration is considering expanding its mortgage-refinancing programs to include borrowers whose mortgages aren’t backed by the government and who owe more than their homes are worth, according to people familiar with the discussions. Currently only borrowers on loans held by Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) or Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB) can qualify for the HAMP, leaving about 50% of the nation’s 10.8M underwater mortgages locked out of the program.
2. Holiday sales season looked weak — the early results suggest it’s been a weak holiday season for retailers, with MasterCard’s SpendingPulse reporting sales just 0.7% higher than last year. “It’s a lost season,” says the group’s Michael McNamera.
3. Bank Index (XLF) for 2013 — Will XLF moves higher for 2013? The technical chart below shows a bullish inverse Head-and-Shoulder pattern.

4. Home Prices Post Gain in 2012, Hit a Milestone — Home prices are on track to notch their first yearly gain since 2006, the strongest performance since the housing bust and a development that could accelerate the real-estate rebound even as the broader economy stutters. Since January, prices are up 6.9% so far this year, the largest year-to-date.
5. Ford to invest $773M on Michigan facilities — Ford (F) said it intends to invest more than $773M to upgrade and expand 6 Michigan manufacturing plants. It’s part of a pledge to invest $6.2B in U.S. facilities through the end of 2015.
6. 2012 Commodity Performance — courtesy of Bespoke, below is a chart of Commodity Performance in 2012 YTD.

7. Key ETFs YTD Performance in 2012 — chart highlights the month-to-date, quarter-to-date and year-to-date performance of selected ETFs.

8. Hewlett-Packard Says Justice Department Probing Autonomy — Bloomberg, The U.S. Justice Department opened an investigation relating to Autonomy Corp. after Hewlett- Packard Co. (HPQ) accused the software company of misrepresenting its performance before being bought last year.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: