ECONOMY & MARKETS

A brewing crisis in the Middle East is causing an almost daily uptick in oil prices but early signs of a rebound in the U.S. economy is indeed offering substantial tailwind to crude too.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: ViroPharma, WebMD Health, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Oritani Financial, and Momenta Pharmaceuticals. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: RF Micro Devices, Vical, Integra LifeSciences Holdings, Morgans Hotel Group, and Zoltek Companies.

Retailers posted strong sales numbers in December, but at-times extreme discounts tapered good feelings, profits and earnings outlooks for the full year.

U.S. apartment vacancies dropped to 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter, a 10-year low, as more Americans chose renting over buying, according to real estate research firm Reis.

Banks led Wall Street to gains on Thursday even as Europe struggled again, a sign investors are betting a relatively strong U.S. economy will help U.S. stocks outperform other markets.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Kodak may be preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

As Wall Street anxiously awaits the Labor Department's monthly employment report due on Friday, a decent bet has emerged. Odds are, the government will say it underestimated recent job gains.

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. reported sales of 178,131 cars in December, up 0.4 percent from 177,488 cars from a year ago. Sales beat forecasts by analysts polled by Bloomberg, who had predicted an average 1 percent drop in sales.

A Thursday report based on payrolls showed that the U.S. private sector added more jobs than forecast in December, a very bullish sign that added to the hope of a strong official Labor Department report on Friday. Bond prices briefly turned down on the news. Yields on 10-year notes declined 2 basis points to 1.96 percent, after touching 2.03 percent following the data.

A new decline in the value of the Euro could hit major U.S. technology exporters which dodged the bullet in the fourth quarter. Companies included HP, IBM, Oracl;e and Cisco Systems.

Major U.S. technology companies, which derive the majority of their revenue from abroad, with between 25 percent and 33 percent overall from Europe, have warned about potential fallout from the Eurozone crisis since last July.

President Barack Obama appointed three people to the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday to keep the agency operable in 2012.

The number of planned job cuts at U.S. firms declined in December to the lowest level since June, but up from the same time a year ago, a report on Thursday showed.

PepsiCo's reported plans to lay off about 4,000 employees, if confirmed, would be only the latest in a round of mass layoffs large American manufacturers have announced or put into effect just 5 days into the new year.

The average U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate dropped to 3.91 percent, matching an all time low, in the week ending on Dec. 5, according to Freddie Mac.

The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits resumed its downward trend last week after an uptick in the week ended Dec. 24. The figure remained below a key threshold for gauging the job market, a sign that the labor market is gaining strength.

The worst, most vulgar aspects of American pop culture are spilling across the globe – even in distant, alien lands like China and India.

The price of oil has been rising due to mounting tensions between Iran and the United States and other western countries. On Wednesday the pressure on Iran continued to ratchet up, as European Union governments agreed on to ban imports of Iranian oil.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Oclaro, Zumiez, National Instruments, Seagate Technology, Complete Genomics, and Apple. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: DryShips, Savient Pharmaceuticals, Sonic, Zix Corp., Limelight Networks, and Research In Motion.

Asian shares and the euro eased Thursday as concerns about the ability of euro zone countries to refinance their huge public debt dampened investor risk appetite ahead of a French bond auction later in the day.

The Federal Reserve released a report on Wednesday that called for changes to foreclosure processing and an expanded role for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to bolster the still-struggling U.S. housing market.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan for a 3.8 million square foot convention center at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, N.Y. was met with approval from one local non-profit planning group, while the local community board said it awaited more details on the project.

U.S. online sales for the 2011 holiday season rose 15 percent to hit an all-time high, according to data firm comScore.

S&P Indices said Wednesday that more companies increased their dividends in 2011 compared with a year ago. This trend is expected to continue into 2012.

U.S. mortgage applications fell 3.7 percent in the week ending Dec. 30, compared to the week ending Dec. 16, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

As we head into the election year, it is worth noting that no American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent. Despite the recent positive headlines, this series of charts on the U.S. employment situation paints a rather grim picture.

WJB Capital Group Inc. announced Tuesday that the Wall Street firm is halting its brokerage operations after a difficult year. The firm now also faces a lawsuit by an investor, James McNally, alleging fraud.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: TiVo, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Lululemon Athletica, Qiagen, and AVEO Pharmaceuticals. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Life Partners Holdings, Acme Packet, BioMimetic Therapeutics, NetApp, Aruba Networks, Yahoo, and Apple.

The top aftermarket NYSE gainers Tuesday were: ITT Educational Services, IntercontinentalExchange, Kid Brands, Assured Guaranty, Ralph Lauren Corp, DigitalGlobe, Barnes & Noble, AT&T, Lennar Corp and MBIA.