Hi Melanie,

Here is my homework for our next class

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1Pg4EYHS5B2

①Quiet trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in the second-to-last trading session of the year. Stocks rose on positive economic data despite continued concerns about the global economy next year.

②Pending sales of U.S. existing homes surged to a one and a half year high in November. A separate report showed factory activity continued to grow in the U.S. Midwest in December as purchasing managers reported rising prices and employment.

③Robert Johnson, Director of Economic Research at Morningstar is bullish about the U.S. economy in 2012: "We've got one of the economies that seems to be accelerating a little bit here and one of the few in the world. I think Europe even right now is probably in the midst of a recession. We are going to probably have a couple of quarters of negative GDP growth out of Europe and that's pretty much in the cards right now. At the same time U.S. economic growth in the fourth quarter is likely to be something like three percent."

④The jobs front remains sluggish. Initial jobless claims rose more than forecasts but investors focused on the longer term, improving trend in the job market. In Europe it was mixed bag, the euro rebounded after hitting a 15-month low against the dollar in thin trading. But the yield on 10-year Italian bonds hovered near 7 percent, a level markets see as a danger zone for Italy's government debt.

⑤Overall stocks in Europe managed to post gains in Thursday's trading session. In the U.S., the major indexes all closed about one percent higher.