The past week's datapoint-of-consequence for investors had to be the December 2010 consumer credit report, which indicated that credit card debt increased for the first time in more than two years.

Revolving debt, which includes credit cards, increased by $2.3 billion in December, or at a 3.5% annualized rate, the U.S Federal Reserve said. It was the first monthly increase in credit card use since August 2008.

The past week's data-point-of-consequence for investors was delivered by none other than the head of the world's most powerful central bank. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke underscored the nation's need to raise the debt ceiling.

Speaking at a National Press Club luncheon in Washington Thursday, Bernanke said delays in raising the debt ceiling limit, currently $14.3 trillion, could have "catastrophic" consequences, Reuters reported.

The jobs number is disappointing at best. Only 36,000 jobs were added in January, according to the Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones news wires had forecast an increase of 136,000. The unemployment rate fell to 9%.

The key reason for such a poor showing was bad weather. However, the December number was increased to 121,000 jobs, from 103,000.

Commenting on the jobs situation, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said: "Until we see a sustained period of stronger job creation, we cannot consider the recovery to be truly established."

Is Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stoking inflation? Of course he is. Anyone with common sense knows that if you give $600 billion cash to the banks with no qualifications -- as he did with the second round of quantitative easing -- they will use it to speculate in the markets. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) just bought $1 billion of copper.

Bernanke's fatal mistake was that he placed no restrictions on what the banks would do with his $600 billion. If you opened the banks' books, you can bet that they've invested in commodities, currencies and foreign equities and bonds.

This year get ready to open your wallet wider and expect higher credit card bills for the basics like food, clothing and energy. You are probably wondering what is going on. While you weren't paying much attention, the price raw commodities surged in 2010. Corn, sugar, wheat, cotton, coffee and soybeans prices soared last year, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

A confluence of factors pushed prices up. We had and still have demand explosion from China and India. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's monthly food index which monitors a basket of commodities including meat, dairy and sugar rose for the sixth straight month to a record.

Friday's fourth-quarter GDP numbers offered more evidence that the economy is picking up steam, but one of the biggest obstacles to the recovery remains the stubbornly high unemployment rate. We'll find out whether there's been any movement on that front when employment data for January comes out this week. The Challenger Job-Cut report and ADP employment data are due Wednesday, and the government's unemployment rate on Friday. Another mild increase in jobs is expected, in line with the three-month average, but not enough to significantly reduce the unemployment rate.

Also look for the ISM manufacturing and nonmanufacturing indexes this week, as well as the Chicago PMI and the New York NAPM index. And Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak to the National Press Club on Thursday.

The Dow broke 12,000 today. What's next? Again we have those who say the glass is half full and those who say it is half empty.

Traders believe that the glass is half full. Dow 12,000 is only a number, although a psychological number. Round numbers catch the public's attention. There will be sellers screaming 'get me out' if they have recouped their losses. The market probably will absorb the half empty guys and march upward. That may not be a straight line, but the momentum is strong enough to push higher.

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) issued its statement indicating again that interest rates will remain low for an extended period of time and that quantitative easing will continue with the purchase of "$600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of the second quarter of 2011."

There were no dissents against the FOMC statement.

The FOMC left its options open for the future and gave no specific guidance as to what actions it will take when QE2 ends.

With earnings season in full swing, the FOMC meeting on interest rates, the GDP estimate, and housing numbers due out, the coming week is shaping up to be a busy one. So here's a peek at what's on the economic calendar.

Monday

Quarterly reports from American Express (AXP) and McDonald's (MCD) will highlight Monday. Amgen (AMGN), CSX (CSX), Halliburton (HAL) and Texas Instruments (TXN) are also expected to report strong earnings results.

One economic data point that sort of slipped under the radar recently concerned the U.S. Federal Reserve's $78.4 billion payment to the U.S. Treasury in 2010, up about 65% from $47.4 billion in 2009.

And the reason for the revenue surge? Experienced investors or others who have reviewed the Fed's report will realize that much of it stems from income from the Fed's purchase of mortgage securities and Treasury securities in connection with the quantitative easing, part 2 program, or QE2.

Under QE2, the Fed will purchase up to $600 billion in assets from November 2010 to June 2011 -- this coming after the Fed purchased $1.7 trillion in assets through March 2010.

Has the U.S. Federal Reserve's tone regarding its stance toward its asset purchase program(quantitative easing part 2, or QE2), changed?

From the recent comments of Federal Open Market Committee members, it's tough to detect a shift.

For investors, the Fed's QE2 tone is hardly insignificant. A Fed signal that an unwinding of asset purchases is likely before June would affect U.S GDP growth expectations, and, by extension, corporate revenue expectations of many firms for the second half of 2011.

The Labor Department reported that employers added 103,000 jobs last month. This fell short of the expected 150,000 predicted by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. However, the unemployment rate fell to 9.4%. The November report was revised upward to 71,000 from 39,000, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Earlier in the week ADP reported that private sector jobs rose by 297,000 last month, the strongest gain since ADP began collecting data.

The Federal Reserve has embarked on a controversial new program of buying $600 billion of U.S. Treasuries to keep interest rates low and spur the economy.

There is some disagreement among some members of the Fed concerning the risks of this new program. Some fear that the economy is growing too rapidly, fueling unwanted levels of inflation, as reported by CNNMoney.

The trends that drove gold prices higher in 2010 are still in place. In the U.S., the Federal Reserve is buying $600 billion in treasuries in an attempt to keep interest rates low. Low interest rates encourage higher gold prices.

In Europe, the situation is still unstable. The European Central Bank (ECB) has stepped up its purchases of member nations' bonds. Spain is still on the table as a country teetering on verge of a bailout. Until the European mess is settled, gold remains a surrogate currency.

Although the U.S. economy has added jobs in recent months, the unemployment rate remains uncomfortably high at 9.8%. The rate for December is due out on Friday and is expected to drop to 9.7%. However, no one seems to expect significant improvement until well into the new year.

Other economic data on this week's schedule include:

• Monday: ISM Manufacturing Index, construction spending and auto sales data