Market Summary

Wall Street futures dived in the premarket after the government released the October Employment Situation. However, stocks clawed their way back to post modest gains. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.46, or 0.2 percent, to 10,023.42. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 2.67, or 0.3 percent, to 1,069.30, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 7.12, or 0.3 percent, to 2,112.44. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 0.80, or 0.1 percent, to 580.35.

The close signaled a winning week for the street, as the Dow and the S&P 500 index added 3.2 percent, while the Nasdaq rose 3.3 percent.

Gold advanced over 5% for the week, gaining $6.40 to settle at $1,095.70 an ounce on Friday, while crude fell $2.12 to settle at $77.87 per barrel on the NYMEX. The employment report really hammered the energy trade, as nearly 16 million people are now out of work.

In other energy trading, heating oil fell 5.41 cents to settle at $2.0035 a gallon. Gasoline for December delivery lost 6.34 cents to settle at $1.9243 a gallon. Natural gas for December delivery tanked 18.7 cents to settle at $4.595 per 1,000 cubic feet.

The Headline, Unemployment Surges Past 10%

The U.S. jobless rate unexpectedly jumped to a 26-1/2-year high of 10.2 percent last month, adding to pressure on the Obama administration to do more to tackle unemployment even as signs of recovery mount.

The Labor Department said Friday that employers cut 190,000 jobs in October, more than the 175,000 markets had expected but fewer than the 219,000 lost in September.

While that hinted at some improvement, economists had looked for the jobless rate to rise to 9.9 percent from September’s 9.8 percent. The real unemployment rate hit a record 17.5 percent in October.

Psychologically that double digit number will have a huge impact on consumers, worried about the security of their job and the ability to find gainful employment with so much slack in the economy. Retailers watch out…

Buffett Racks up Big Quarter

Berkshire Hathaway reported $3.2 billion, or $2,087 per share, in net income for the 3rd quarter. That’s up significantly from last year’s $1.1 billion, or $682 per share. The street had expected earnings per share of $1,308.25. Berkshire generated $29.9 billion revenue in the quarter, up from $27.9 billion a year ago.