Stocks fell on the day, but remained resilient despite some poor new construction data and weakness in the tech sector. While the economy is still facing headwinds and stocks have had a tremendous run since hitting their lows early in the year, we expect the markets to close out 2009 relatively strong. Sometime in early 2010, though, we would expect stocks to retrace some.

The Dry Bulk Shipping Stocks Index was the top performing tickerspy Index on the day, led by Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd (NYSE: EXM - News) with a 14% gain.

Stocks were down on the day, with the Dow shedding -11 points to close at 10,426. The S&P dipped -1 point to 1,110, while the Nasdaq fell by -11 points to 2,193. Gold climbed $1.90 to $1,141.30 an ounce, while oil increased 44 cents to $79.58 a barrel.

Unexpectedly weak data from the housing sector weighed on stocks. The Commerce Department announced that new home construction dropped by -10.6% in October from the prior month to 529,000. Economists had been expecting housing starts to come in at 600,000. Building permits also missed analyst expectations, falling by -4%. Analysts attributed the weak housing starts number to uncertainty this fall over the now-extended homebuyers' tax credit.

The Labor Department released the October Consumer Price Index (CPI) number. The inflation measure came in at 0.3%, while core inflation, which omits energy and food prices, rose 0.2%. Both numbers were 10 basis points above economists' expectations.

In earnings news, BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ - News) saw its profit drop by -37% to $17.7 million, or 32 cents per share. Excluding a charge for a legal settlement over worker pay, BJ's earned $24.6 million, or 45 cents per share, down from $28.2 million, or 48 cents per share, a year ago. Sales came in at $2.51 billion, up 2% from a year earlier. The results were mostly in line with analyst expectations for earnings of 45 cents per share on revenue of $2.48 billion. BJ's held steady with its forecast for earnings of 96 cents to $1 per share in Q4. Analysts are looking for 97 cents in EPS. The stock fell -1.9%.

Software maker Autodesk (Nasdaq: ADSK - News) saw shares plunge by -10.4% after offering a weak Q4 outlook after the close on Tuesday. Autodesk's Q3 results beat Wall Street's estimates for the top and bottom lines, but the firm sees Q4 EPS coming in at 19-24 cents, below the 25-cent consensus estimate. For Q3, the company posted a profit of $29.5 million, or 13 cents per share, down from $104.5 million, or 46 cents per share, a year ago. Adjusted EPS was 27 cents, 4 cents ahead of Wall Street estimates. Revenue dropped -31% to $416.9 million, but came in just ahead of the $415.3 million consensus.

Shares of customer-relations software firm Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM - News) also dipped on earnings-related weakness. The firm's net income more than doubled from a year ago to $20.7 million, or 16 cents a share, on a 20% gain in revenue to $330.5 million. Analysts had been expecting EPS of 16 cents on revenue of $324 million. However, investors were disappointed in Salesforce's in line earnings guidance for Q4 and FY2011. Meanwhile, the company also reported on its conference call that it is ramping hiring, stoking concerns over increased costs. Shares dipped -3.1%.

Water filtration company Pall (NYSE: PLL - News) also took a hit, falling -3.0%. The company reported sales of $546.9 million for the fiscal first quarter ended October 31st, below the $570.7 million analysts were expecting. The company saw weakness in demand for its industrial filters, which it blamed on the soft economy. The company will release full FQ1 results on December 9th.

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