5 things you need to know about the Australian sharemarket today

Welcome to Friday. Here are the five things I'm looking at today on the Australian sharemarket.

1. The S&P/ ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has opened 0.95% higher.Overnight, the Dow Jones rocketed again, rising 1.9%, the broader S&P 500 gained 1.7%, while the NASDAQ climbed 1.9%. Again, it was investors betting on governments injecting more stimulus into a number of struggling economies around the world, particularly in Europe.
2. Australian retail sales numbers for November are out today, and investors will be eagerly waiting to see if consumers dipped into their pockets leading up to the start of the highly important Christmas shopping period.Some retailers can make up to half their annual takings during that time, so you can see why it's so important to them.Media reports so far point to a weak season up until the week of Christmas, at which time consumers woke up and poured into retail stores snapping up goods. How that has affected overall sales for the month remains to be seen though.

   Key stocks to watch include: Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR), Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL), JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) and Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (ASX: HVN).

3. Oil prices appear to have steadied, after losing 55% since June. Overnight, Brent oil was trading at US$51.07 per barrel, while WTI Crude was at US$48.97, up 0.7%.Interestingly, the Australian Financial Review is reporting that some oil traders, including Vitol, Trafigura as well as oil giant Shell, are booking oil tankers for up to 12 months to hold surplus oil at sea. It was a popular move in 2009 – the last time oil prices crashed.That may see some support for our ASX-listed oil and gas stocks today, including Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL), Santos Limited (ASX: STO) and Origin Energy Limited (ASX: ORG).
4. Tweet of the Day
   

   #ironore will probably extend declines in 2015 as global supply exceeds demand and producers add production #ausbiz https://t.co/IDAd9mLtwj

   Financial Review (@FinancialReview) January 8, 2015

   Oh oh. Bad news for junior iron ore miners again. Their recent rally may be short lived.

5. Stock of the Day – brought to you by Darryl Date-Shappard – Carsales.com (ASX: CRZ). Want to know how Australia's leading motor vehicle classified site is poised for the year ahead? Look no further than this article.