Bulls Cheer Obama's Stimulus Talk; Dow Gains 3.5%

The Chicago-based company faces headwinds, including declining revenue, a tough economy and a credit crisis, which have created what Zell called "the perfect storm" in a memo to employees.

On a bright note, some lower-priced fast-food chains may be rising in appeal as the economic concerns worsen, McDonald's (MCD Quote) announced that same-store sales rose 7.7% in November. Still, shares of the fast-food chain fell 2.9% to $60.92.

Shifting to commodities, crude oil rose $2.90 to settle at $43.71 a barrel. Gold rose $17 to settle at $769.30 an ounce.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities were edging lower in price. The 10-year was recently down 16/32 to yield 2.76%, and the 30-year was off by 26/32 to yield 3.16%. The dollar was weaker against the euro and pound, and higher versus the yen.

Overseas, European exchanges such as the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt traded significantly higher -- adding 6.2% and 7.6%, respectively. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei ended higher, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng also ended with gains.