Stocks Recharge and Rally

Stocks rallied Thursday after a drop in unemployment claims and an upbeat forecast from Cisco Systems Inc. gave investors a new reason to be optimistic about the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial average was able to reclaim the highly-coveted 10,000 spot following the rally. Gains were broad based, with all 30 Dow issues rising, led by Boeing (BA), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wal-Mart (WMT), and Procter & Gamble (PG) to name a few. The biggest jump in productivity in six years also contributed to the positive optimism on Wall Street. Meanwhile, retailers posted sales gains for the second straight month in October after more than a year of sliding sales. Cisco (CSCO) pulled tech stocks higher after it said late Wednesday that it expects revenue to grow for the first time in a year. U.S. light crude oil for December delivery fell 62 cents to settle at $79.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Treasury prices fell and the dollar ended mixed versus other major currencies.

Word on the Street

The skeletons are falling out the closet over at Galleon's Group. Federal prosecutors charged 14 hedge fund employees, lawyers and other investors with trading on insider information today. As more details come out about this case, the more it sounds like something out of a movie .

A day after two separate reports suggested that jobs cuts are slowing; the Labor Department announced that unemployment filings last week fell to its lowest level since January. Despite the positive news, unemployment within a fraction of 10 percent will continue to be a challenge for any economy coming out of a recession.

The holiday shopping season is quickly approaching and soon it will be all about retails sales numbers. Unfortunately, recent data has been all over the place, so analysts can't really determine how holiday sales will stack up.

With the amount of foreclosures rising every month, Fannie Mae (FNM) has decided to approach this growing problem with another solution. The company has decided to implement a deed-for-lease program that allows troubled borrowers who don't qualify for loan modifications to stay in their homes.

Move from Tenant to Owner -- Why pay rent to a landlord when that equity could be yours?

In acquisition news, health care data company IMS Health Inc. (RX) said it is being bought by investment funds TPG Capital and CPP Investment Board for $4 billion.

What Does IMS Health Do, Anyway ?

The recession has spurred a lot of innovation at Ford Motor Company (F). The automaker has already introduced a number of fuel-efficient vehicles and now the company is looking to debut inflatable seat belts by 2011.

How Good Is the New Taurus?

Thomson Reuters Corp.'s (TRI) third-quarter earnings fell 59% on write-downs and charges as it saw revenue slide, but the CEO is confident that the worst is over. We've all heard this type of statement before. This will be true until the next time the company experiences a large drop in earnings.

CVS Caremark (CVS) has had its hand in a lot of different business for a while now. Sometimes that turns into a problem. The company's unit for managing pharmacy benefits lost $3.7 billion in contracts in the third quarter. In response, investors sent shares of the company to eight year lows.

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Make an Online Capital Connection -- Sometimes finding the right investor is all about chemistry.

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Now that most cell phones provide navigation services, are GPS systems becoming something of the past ?

Health-Care Reform's Hidden Taxes -- Why a lot of health reform's costs could be borne by the middle class, despite Obama's pledges.

Channeling Your Inner Warren Buffett