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The market ended the year on a positive note as buyers stepped in after a dip the previous week. Positive news from the housing market helped the market as new home sales were reported up 3.4% in November and up 5.8% from a year ago. Existing home sales were up 0.6% in November, although the median sales price was down 3.1% from a year ago. There is a growing consensus that the housing market has bottomed and is slowly beginning to stabilize. The December Chicago PMI climbed to 52.4 from 49.9 the previous month and along with a rise in consumer confidence led to concerns that the Fed is not likely to cut rates early in 2007. There were no earnings reports or guidance of note this past week. Oil closed the week down over $1 at $61.05 per barrel while the yield on the 10-year note rose to 4.71% from 4.62% the previous week. Going forward, the economic outlook remains positive and interest rates look to stay low suggesting that 2007 could be another positive year for stocks.

The DOW closed the week down, falling 102.30 points to close at 12343.22. The S&P fell 1.1%, dropping 16.33 points, ending the week at 1410.76. The NASDAQ plunged 2.3%, shedding 56.02 points, ending the week at 2401.18.