Small Business Has More Optimism

The National Federation of Business reported today that their constituents, small businessmen, had seen an improvement in their economic outlook in December.  This set a positive mood for the day which continued right up to the close.  With no major negative news coming from Europe, stock traders took a vacation from Maalox and took time to observe the day's gains.  Some inflation woes stemmed from orange futures being at there highest in 35 years.  The Dow closed the day with a solid 69 point gain.