Markets closed Friday with an overall rally for the week with all the major
indexes increasing over 2%. The positive trending last week did not seem to be
affected by the poor report on job growth. The report indicated job growth was
much slower than anticipated with only 39,000 jobs added in November. The
unemployment rate increased from 9.6% to 9.8%. Fortunately, investors turned
their interests to focus on policies and prospects to improve the market. Stocks
lowered modestly at open on Monday with reports from the Federal Reserve
chairman indicating it may take four or five years for the economy to return to
a normal unemployment rate and hinted that the Fed may initiate another round of
bond purchases as an additional stimulus measure. The Bush era tax cuts are
currently being negotiated and the preliminary agreement would extend the tax
cuts two years for all incomes and permit the unemployed to file for extended
benefits. At mid morning the major market indexes are mixed. DJIA is down 19.03
points to 11,363.06. Nasdaq is up .87 points to 2592.33. S&P 500 is down 1.00
points to 1,223.71. The Treasuries 10-year yield is down 0.06 to 2.96%. Oil is
up 1.22 to $89.23 a barrel. Precious metals regain value as investors once again
seek security. Gold is up 10.90 to $1,417.10 . The dollar is up 0.0067 to the
Euro at $1.33. Author: Pamela Frost
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