Dow Closes Above 13,000 on Black Friday

U.S. stocks rallied more than three percent during this week's holiday-shortened session, capped off by a 172 point rally on Black Friday which pushed the Dow over the closely-watched 13,000 level. The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 are currently sitting at levels not seen since just after President Barack Obama was re-elected. Topics which were on traders' minds this week: a promising Black Friday, a shaky-at-best cease-fire between Israeli and Hamas forces, regulators circling Steven Cohen, fraud allegations from Hewlett-Packard HPQ related to its purchase of Autonomy, and continued struggles to stamp out deals in the eurozone. Notable earnings for the week included Best Buy BBY, Tyson TSN, Salesforce.com CRM, Deere DE, Lowe's LOW and Brocade BRCD. Crude oil closed the week just over $88 and COMEX gold rose over the $1750 level.