Stocks closed out the week with a nice Friday rally - the Dow Industrials leaping 337 points and the Nasdaq Composite gaining 85.
Investors cheered Labor Department data showing that U.S. employers increased payrolls by a robust 266,000 in November.
Word today OPEC and its allies are prepared to deepen their oil-output cuts. According to OPEC delegates, the organization’s Russia-led allies completed additional collective production curbs of 500,000 barrels a day to last through the end of March.
Oil futures posted solid gains today in reaction to those cuts. January crude jumped 77 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $59.20 a barrel - an 11-week closing high.
There’s a lot of excitement about Sunday’s Saints-49ers game at the Super Dome - a pair of 10-2 teams set to do battle. Evidence of that excitement: StubHub says the average resale ticket price is currently about $325.