IN TODAY'S EDITION OF BRUNCH WITH DAVE

• Market thoughts — big surprise in Australia’s employment data; major hurdle for the economy in 2010 is that practically all the ballyhooed inventory restocking seems to have occurred in Q4 with little follow-through into this year

• U.S. retail sales fails — retail sales came in weaker than expected in December, and the momentum heading into the current quarter is pretty well non-existent

• Valuation for the S&P 500, credit and the TSX — everything is expensive, the S&P 500 being the most overvalued

• Sentiment still running wild — the latest II poll shows the bull share at a 25-month high, while the bear share is facing near extinction

• What we learned from the latest Fed Beige Book — economy is barely growing; retail sales remain weak; the Philly and Richmond regions continue to show no improvement; home prices softening again; demand for credit remains weak