1/1/10 - theGrio & CNBC Market Wrap Up

1/1/10 - theGrio & CNBC Market Wrap Up

Investors had plenty of data to analyze during the final week of 2009 trading. Preliminary retail numbers showed a 3.6 percent increase in holiday spending compared to last year. Investors also analyzed the latest housing and consumer confidence reports. Home prices were virtually flat in October. The latest case "Shiller home price index":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case-Shiller_index, which tracks prices in 20 metro areas such as Atlanta, Boston and Cleveland, showed a 0.4 percent increase, but home prices were down 7.3 percent from October 2008 levels. There's some positive news on the jobs front. A new survey by "careerbuilder.com":http://www.careerbuilder.com/default.aspx?cbRecursionCnt=2&cbsid=c734450ab7104c9d82bd243cae347008-315577401-RG-4 says 20 percent of U.S. employers plan to hire full time workers in 2010. This is up from 14 percent from last year. The number of companies planning to layoff next year declined. Americans are feeling better about the economy. In December "consumer confidence":http://www.conference-board.org/economics/consumerConfidence.cfm rose to 52.9 -- the second consecutive month of improvement. Consumers reported being more optimistic about the labor market.