Weekend Reading: Spirits Are High

Good Sunday morning. 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 again last week. We are at a four-year high on the Dow, with it gaining 1.5%, and the S&P 500 is doing almost as well, up another 1.6% this week. While the Nasdaq has some work to do to catch up, it too turned in a spirited performance this week, gaining 1.6%.Click here for the weekly performance.

All indications are that the five-week-old market rally will continue this coming week. Holiday sales started off strong, with most regions and companies reporting year-over-year improvements (albeit often on massive discounting). While the week will see considerable economic data, in the absence of a major change it is hard to imagine the market not reacting positively to all the recent good news in the economy, from individual companies to the indices themselves. ...