Stocks end shortened session at new 2009 highs - AP - Thu Dec 24
Stocks ended a holiday-shortened session Thursday at new highs for the year following upbeat reports on unemployment and durable goods orders.

Data lifts stocks to 2009 highs on Christmas Eve - Reuters - Thu Dec 24
U.S. stocks rallied in a brief pre-holiday session on Thursday, closing at 2009 highs, after data showing a drop in initial jobless claims and growth in durable goods orders suggested an economic recovery was picking up steam.

Stocks extend gains on U.S. data; dollar slips - Reuters - Thu Dec 24
U.S. and European stocks hit more than one-year closing highs on Thursday after better-than-expected U.S. jobless claims and durable goods orders drove optimism that the economic recovery is gaining hold, while the dollar slipped after a recent rally.

YRC Worldwide, Apple, General Steel are big movers - AP - Thu Dec 24
The following stocks were among those that moved substantially or traded heavily Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market:

Apple shares hit new high on tablet excitement - Reuters - Thu Dec 24
Apple Inc shares reached their all-time high on Thursday as excitement builds over the expected release of its tablet computer.

Jackson Hewitt shares sink on tax-refund loan woes - AP - Thu Dec 24
Shares of tax-return preparer Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. tumbled Thursday after the company said a bank that is supposed to supply most of its tax-refund loans to customers in 2010 will not be able to do so.

Ahead of the Bell: Fall in gas reserves expected - AP - Thu Dec 24
The Energy Department on Thursday is expected to report a draw of 171 billion to 175 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage inventories for the week ended Dec. 18., according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.