The week in review

• DJIA shot up 234.13 this week, 1.93% and closed Friday at 12,342.56.
  

• Nasdaq Composite also gained a very healthy 56.14 points, 2.35% and stands at 2445.86.
  

• S & P 500 gained 20.30, 1.47% to 1401.20.
  

• 10-year Treasury yield rose slightly, 0.020 percentage points to 4.609%.
  

• Crude oil fell $3.78/barrel to $55.81.

• New home construction plummeted 14.6% in October to a six-year low and has many economists revising downward their estimates of U.S. economic growth. This is further evidence that the Federal Reserve, as it so often does, has overshot neutral by raising interest rates too much and too quickly.

• Nymex became a publicly traded company on Friday and debuted with the best first-day IPO performance in over a year. The stock priced at $59 and finished Friday at $132.99 after trading as high as $152 during the day.

• Rumors continue to swirl around Charles Schwab and the future of the company as its 69 year-old founder and CEO has stated that he will retire in 2007 or 2008. Some speculate that Bank of America might be involved with Schwab in talks of some sort of merger or acquisition.