Stocks finished higher ahead of tomorrow morning's report on the job market. The Dow gained 81 points to 13,575. The S&P was up 10 points to 1,461, while the Nasdaq added 14 points to 3,149.
- Newly released minutes indicate the Federal Reserve structured its latest stimulus program around the purchase of mortgage bonds after members agreed that helping the housing market should boost the broader economy. Fed officials also want to tie a future rate increase to specific economic gauges, such as a certain level of unemployment.
- Tuition at private colleges and universities increased 3.9 percent this fall. While that rate is well above overall inflation, it is the smallest increase in at least four decades, and substantially lower than prices have been rising at public universities.
- Google and major book publishers have settled a lengthy legal battle over digital copyrights, but a bigger dispute still looms with thousands of authors who allege that Google is illegally profiting from their works. The truce ends a federal lawsuit filed in 2005 by several members of the Association of American Publishers after Google began stockpiling its Internet search index with digital duplicates of books scanned from libraries.
- Crude oil futures prices ended higher on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The near-month contract for benchmark crude rose $3.57, settling at $91.71 a barrel.
