Wall Street closed out the week on a positive note, with stocks notching solid gains -- the Dow Industrials rising 139 points. The Nasdaq Composite gained 57 while, the S&P 500 added 14.
Oil futures finished marginally lower, snapping a four-day winning streak. April crude slipped 9 cents to settle at $58.52 a barrel. But the contract notched a gain of 4.4% for the week.
Exxon-controlled Imperial Oil continues to take a hard line against the Alberta government's oil-output cut. Imperial will slow down development of the Aspen oil sands project.
And, we’re starting to feel better about things again! The University of Michigan’s consumer-sentiment index jumped a full four points in early March to 97.8 from the final February reading … and up 6 ½ points from the 2 ¼ year low in January.