(CNN Money)

[A] five-week rally that pushed the major gauges to levels not seen since 2001 [has left] The Dow Jones industrial average (down 2.56 to 10,888.16, Charts) just below unchanged. Earlier in the session, the blue-chip average came within 40 points of 11,000, a key psychological level the 30-share index hasn't hit since June 2001.

The broader S&P 500 (up 0.02 to 1,257.48, Charts) index was unchanged, while the Nasdaq composite (down 6.70 to 2,232.71, Charts) lost 0.3 percent.

(AP)

Oil prices briefly slipped to their lowest level in 5 1/2 months Wednesday as warm weather persisted throughout the U.S. Northeast and supported expectations that U.S. oil reserves are sufficient for the winter.

Analysts suggested the downward trend would continue in the short term, pointing out that over the past three months, the market has seized on a series of developments that support the rationale for cheaper oil.

(New York Times)

Shoppers, intent on skipping crowded stores and 6 a.m. squabbles over the last bargain laptop, spent 26 percent more money online over the Thanksgiving weekend than they did in 2004, according to figures released yesterday.

(AP)

The economy grew at a lively 4.3 percent pace in the third quarter, the best showing in more than a year. The performance offered fresh testimony that the country's overall economic health managed to improve despite the destructive force of Gulf Coast hurricanes.

The new snapshot of economic activity, released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, showed the growth at an even faster pace than the 3.8 percent annual rate first reported for the July-to-September quarter a month ago.

How long until the Loopy Left (That “reality based community” as they like to call it) concedes they were, are, and will be dead wrong about the economy, the effect of the tax cuts, and oil prices?

How long before they admit that between 9/11, two wars, three Hurricanes, and Chinese competition, we have managed to not only recover our economy, but strengthen it?