- Bankruptcies Jump, Hitting Highest Level in Four Years
- AIG, Ex-CEO Greenberg Reach Pact to Settle Disputes
- Bank of America CEO Search May Extend Into 2010
- Steepest Black Friday Discounts, Revealed
- 'Cancer of Fraud' Permeates Health Care System: Critics
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- For Many in US, It Will Be a Scaled-Down Holiday Season
- 4 Thanksgiving Week Buys For Your Portfolio: Market Pros
- There's a 'Great Chance' For a Double-Dip Recession: Strategist
- Revenge of the Gangsta Nerds
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- Retail Earnings and Sales to Improve in Q4: Analyst
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot More Riskless
- Crescenzi: Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Hedge Funds Take Early Lead in Warren Buffett's 'Big Bet'
MOST SHARED
- The Executive Job Search
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- Activision Prepares to Double Dip on ‘Modern Warfare 2’
- Salvation Army's Kettles Now Credit Card-Ready
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- Topless Business Is Taking Off
- 'Cancer of Fraud' Permeates US Health Care System
More Videos
Text Size 
Futures jumped Friday after the latest employment numbers showed signs of a stablizing job market.
The jobs report showed 247,000 jobs were cut from nonfarm payrolls last month, less than the 320,000 expected, and the prior two months were revised to show 43,000 fewer jobs were lost from payrolls than first reported. The unemployment rate held at 9.4 percent.
"This is another indication that the economy is on an improving track and a confirmation that we're going to see a positive GDP number for the third quarter and we're going to be able to say that this recession ended in the third quarter of 2009," Robert Dye, senior economist at PNC Financial Services, told Reuters.
After a rally on Monday that sent the S&P above 1,000 for the first time since November, stocks had languished for the past few sessions amid jitters about this jobs report.
Heading into today's session, the Dow and S&P 500 are positive for the week by about 1%, while the Nasdaq is a few points lower. If all three can finish higher for the week, they would be up for the fourth consecutive week.
As usual, earnings reports slow down on Friday, but there are a few of note.
AIG [AIG
Loading...
()
] shares soared in pre-market trading after the insurer easily surpassed expectations, posting its first profit in seven quarters.
The shares have gained 74 percent in the past few sessions for reasons that aren't totally clear. A short squeeze appears to be the most likely reason, rather than the earnings report.
Ford [F
Loading...
()
] and GM [MTLQQ
Loading...
()
] are expected to be back in the spotlight after the Senate approved another $2 billion for the "Cash For Clunkers" program.
After the bell, we'll hear from the one company that traditionally waits for a Friday afternoon to report its earnings: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway [BRK.A
Loading...
()
].
In yesterday's earnings news, Nvidia [NVDA
Loading...
()
], CBS [CBS
Loading...
()
], Chiquita, and Crocs [CROX
Loading...
()
] all exceeded Wall Street's estimates.
- Peter Schacknow contributed to this report.
- For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
- Eric Schmidt pledges to create a virtual copy of the Iraq National Museum at Google’s expense.
- Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC and Power Lunch for a year. Here's a message from Bill.
- More shoppers than ever plan to comparison-shop this season. Who will benefit?
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- How can you get out of debt and back on the road to recovery? Follow these ten steps.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes