Friendly earnings boost equity prices
Sentiment appeared to have shifted early this week in favor of equity markets. Prices were generally rising during the week with a minor pullback on Friday. In particular, a few stronger-than-expected earnings reports appeared to set a positive tone for the market. Results are much improved from a week ago, and this week's gain marks the seventh one in a row.

Treasury sell-off
It always seems ironic that rising Treasury yields would follow Fed rate cuts. The Treasury market sold off on Friday due to a variety of technical factors - partly related to the fact that next week is shortened by the Thanksgiving holiday. However, the trend in rising yields began early in the week. At 4.18 percent on Friday afternoon, the yield on the 10-year note was at its highest rate since October 23 when the day's close was 4.23 percent. The 2-year note closed at 2.06 percent, its highest level since October 24 when the yield closed at 2.08 percent.