script:
Well this does seem like it was too long ago that the Dow Industrials crossed the 13,000 mark for the first time. Well today, the Dow flirted with 14,000. Stephanie Elam joins us from New York to tell us just how close we came. Hey there, Stephanie.

Virginia, it was just 11 points. That's how close we came to cross the 14,000 mark before the bluechips retreated a bit. But still, hey, we ended on a record high. One reason, optimism at earning season which kicked into gear on Tuesday. Let's take a look at the final numbers. The Dow industrial is up 43 points to 13950. And then taking a look at the NASDAQ, it's up 9, I'm sorry, down 9 points, off about a third of a percent at 2697. The S&P500 off about 3 points today at 1549. So not really huge losses there on the other markets, but definitely the Dow was the winner of the day, Virginia.

So Stephanie you mentioned earning season, corporate earnings is that what's really driving the market?

Well, it's definitely one of the main factors, but today's stocks also got a lift from deal making activity, a so-called Merger Monday as we know them around here. One deal is in the restaurant sector and includes two companies you probably know. IHOP, of course, the International House of Pancakes. Well, they are acquiring Applebee's for more than 2 billion dollars, shares of IHOP jumped nearly 9 percent, Applebee's climbed 2 percent. And Verizon, one of the companies in the Dow industrials, well, it rose more than 2% on a report that it could be the target of a potentially huge bid from Britain's Vodafone. Vodafone responded by saying it has no plans to make an offer, but just that little bit of speculation can help give a stock a lift. Virginia.

Well, I wanna turn to the job market now. I understand sort of some good news for folks who are looking for a job. This is good to hear.

It is always come, good to come with good news about this part, because people are always worrying about jobs. Well it looks like it's taking less time to land a new position. Job seekers found jobs 17% faster in the last 3 months than in the previous quarter. According to a recent survey, it took just 3 months to find a job last quarter down from a more than 3 and a half months wait in the previous quarter. In the 3rd quarter of 2006, it took more than 4 months to find a job. That suggest the job market is pretty strong. The biggest movement, or improvement up there came from those over 50 who are looking for work. The survey also showed that people looking for a job were more likely to say they've found a job as good or even better than their previous job. So I guess for some people, Leslie, it might be time to start working on their resume, right?

Yeah, it's always good to keep it fresh. (Yeah!) OK let's say you can't find work, maybe you can get your big break in show business?

Yeah! Or something like that and now you can do it over a website, you know make it even easier. (Yeah!) Sony’s crago.com is the latest to compete with video sites like Youtube. And to get you interested, it has a unique offer---stardom. Your video could get plug from the masses for a chance to perform a stand-up routine at the Enprob. Crago is also offering a 15,000-dollar-development deal with Columbia Pictures. Other video sites are offering a shot of stardom. So forget working on the resume, I guess, work on your video uploads.

Yeah, exactly. And your singing voice and your acting ability, as well.

And also you are able to hold, your ability to hold the camera straight.

Exactly, at your face and not at your stomach. Alright. Stephanie , thanks so much. Talk to you next time.

Sounds good.

Notes:
Stand-up: Stand-up comedy is a style of comedy where the performer speaks directly to the audience, with the absence of the theatrical fourth wall. A person who performs stand-up comedy is known as a stand-up comic, stand-up comedian or more informally stand up.