The market's been rolling along nicely since its springtime spring, but can it end the year on a high note?

December is typically a sleepy month for financial news, especially as traders and boardrooms make the most of the holiday season. The calendar never sleeps, though.

Here are a few of the days that I plan to approach with eyes wide open this month.

Dec. 7
Barnes & Noble's (NYSE:BKS) Nook -- the bar-raising e-book reader that was supposed to give Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle a run for its e-money -- has hit a few supply chain snags. While it's trying to get its November pre-release orders shipped before Christmas, book lovers who waited until now to place orders for the gadget are being told that their Nooks won't be shipped until the middle of next month.

The shortage is also stifling B&N's real-world plan. Instead of stocking stores for the holiday rush, the retailer will only be sending demo units to its high-traffic stores on Dec. 7.

This still makes it an important day for B&N. It will be the first time that its Nook will be seen out in the wild, and you know that bloggers, Twitterers, and creepy folks who spend way too much time in book superstores will let the rest of the world know what they think of the device.

Dec. 14
Don't let the "Cyber Monday" hype fool you. The Monday after Thanksgiving may be a lively time for online shopping, but it's never the busiest day of the year. That honor typically goes out to either Green Monday (a week after Cyber Monday) or Brown Monday (two weeks after Cyber Monday).

My gut has Brown Monday as the big winner this year. For starters, shoppers are more comfortable with online fulfillment, so orders placed as late as Dec. 14 should have no problem arriving well before Christmas Eve. We're also still clawing our way out of a recession, so I can see shoppers holding back for as long as possible, either to have clearer visibility as to how much they can spend or to see if desperate retailers break out even better deals.

This will be the day to watch -- and shop.

Dec. 15
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) reports its fiscal third-quarter results the day after Brown Monday. Does that make it Blue Tuesday? As the leading consumer electronics superstore chain -- now in its first holiday season without having to battle Circuit City -- Best Buy's report and initial read of the current quarter will be huge.

Are video games, DVDs, or CDs bouncing back? Who has the hot smartphone? Are the new Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) commercials reigniting interest in satellite receivers at the retail level? Best Buy is the ultimate tastemaker, and the perfect way to gauge the pulse of several consumer tech niches.

Dec. 18
One of the year's biggest movies may actually be opening just as 2009 is blowing away. James Cameron makes his long-awaited Hollywood return with Avatar. The previews are jaw-dropping, but what else would one expect from Cameron?

Beyond its studio -- News Corp.'s (NASDAQ:NWS) Twentieth Century Fox -- and the local multiplex operators, one company that could score well if the flick is a hit is IMAX (NASDAQ:IMAX). Cameron is putting out a special 3-D version of the epic that will be shown on the growing number of IMAX screens around the country.

If not, let's at least hope that the popcorn is fresh!

Dec. 22
There aren't too many companies reporting during the last two weeks of the year, so Red Hat (NYSE:RHT) will be commanding plenty of attention with its financials.

Analyst see the provider of premium Linux solutions earning $0.16 a share for its fiscal third quarter, a third less than it rang up a year ago. The bad news is that this would be the third quarter in a row in which Red Hat posts year-over-year declines on the bottom line. The good news is that Red Hat has beaten analyst expectations in each of the past eight quarters.

Are you circling any particular dates in December for financial news? Share your calendar in the comment box below.