Weekend Reading: Rally Hats Donned

Good Sunday. Here are some articles and papers worth reading. First, however, a look back at the week that just finished, and a look forward at the week ahead.

The major markets all advanced last week. The Dow advanced 1.2%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.8%. The Nasdaq Composite leaped 3.8%, for its biggest weekly gain since August 2004. Click here for the weekly performance.

It was a good week last week, with a wider set of investors wearing a "rally hat." While economic and company results were not world-changing, there was enough optimism around to keep the previous week's rally going, and to even juice it up a little. Generally speaking, there is reason to expect this week will see more of the same, with optimism about holiday retail sales (oh, that subject is back again!) growing. There is, however, some nervousness about energy prices, with the recent price declines having reversed somewhat. This will undoubtedly make skittish traders even jumpier than usual. ...