wifi airport travel computer
Flickr/sam_churchill
Some stocks were up, and some stocks were down.
First the scoreboard:
Dow: 12,967, -42.3, -0.3 percent

S&P 500: 1,406, -2.8, -0.2 percent

NASDAQ: 2,976, +9.9, +0.3 percent

And now the top stories:
  • There wasn't a lot of big market-moving news today.  However, there were a few developments worth noting.

  • It's hard to make any conclusions about holiday spending based just on Black Friday sales.  But for what it's worth, early data suggests Black Friday was huge.  According to the National Retail Federation, 247 million shoppers spent on average $423 dollars this past weekend, up from 226 million people spending $398 a year ago.  

  • According to the Dallas Federal Reserve, manufacturing activity in that region unexpectedly turned negative.  The general activity index fell to -2.8 from 1.8 in October.  Economists were looking for a reading of 2.0.

  • Most stocks fell today.  But two tech behemoths rallied.  Apple jumped around 2 percent today.  Citi's Glen Yeung published a report slapping a 'Buy' rating on the stock with a $675 per share price target.  Basically, he sees the recent sell-off as a huge opportunity.

  • Facebook was the other stock that surged.  BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield upgraded the stock to 'Neutral' from 'Sell' while saying that Q4 revenue will explode.  Bernstein analyst Carlos Kirjner also upgraded the stock, raising it to 'Outperform.'  Kirjner also believes the consensus is underestimating the company's revenue prospects.

  • To everyone's surprise, The Bank of England poached The Bank of Canada's Mark Carney to succeed Mervyn King and become its new chairman.  The immediate reaction occurred in the currency markets where the British Pound surged against the Canadian Dollar.  Carney is widely considered to be one of the most respected central bankers in the world.