Non-farm payrolls came in higher than analysts' forecasts and the unemployment rate fell to 8.8%. That good news sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a new 2011 high. At midday the Dow was up 78 points to 12,397 -- as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Except for a brief sell-off to the 11,500 level, the market has moved quickly to regain lost ground and is now at new highs. Last week the USDA's crop report was bullish for grains. It's not surprising that Caterpillar (CAT) led the charge, up 1.7%. But there are always some losers. Office Depot (ODP) fell 11% after reporting a fourth quarter loss and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD), which also had a fourth quarter loss, fell 17%.

While the U.S. exchanges have a diverse market for mining and resource stocks, the fact is that there are large opportunities in foreign markets. In fact, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the Canadian TMX Group have agreed to merge, which would create an enormous market for commodities listings.

It is an all-stock deal, with the LSE holders getting roughly 55% of the equity. The exchange's CEO, Xavier Rolet, will also lead the new organization.

Barron's is forecasting a 10% rise in stock prices in 2011 led by big cap stocks. They argue that the big caps have lagged the market for the past decade and are now poised to take the lead, as reported by CNBC.com.

Here are their top ten picks for this year: Exxon Mobil (XOM), Walmart (WMT), Pfizer (PFE), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), General Motors (GM), Cisco Systems (CSCO), United Continental Holdings (UAL), Barrack Gold (ABX), Entergy (ETR), and PepsiCo (PEP).

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has an indicator that tracks the number of people who simply quit their jobs. CNBC.com reported that the indicator, which they dubbed "Take This Job and Shove It," climbed in October with 2 million people quitting their jobs, up from 1.7 million in the same month a year ago. The last time this pattern occurred was in 2003 when the economy started a long upward trend.

The "Shove It" indicator tends to turn up when people are confident enough that they will find another job if they quit their present one.

We have hundreds of indexes tracking everything that wiggles or moves. We are constantly searching for direction. Where is the market headed? Where is the economy going? Are we still in a recession? Will we see more growth next year? And on and on we go.

Well, here's a unique index -- two indexes in fact -- that track unusual products. The Commodity Research Bureau's raw industrials spot index, which includes print cloth, rosin and wool tops, soared to an all-time high last week, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. The Journal of Commerce/Economic Cycle Research Institute industrial price index, which tracks industrial metals, cotton, hides and tallow, hit a 2010 high last Friday -- just shy of its 2008 peak.

You can't blame investors for being a little perplexed regarding the U.S. stock market right now.

The market's bulls argue the worst financial and economic news is behind us, and that the Dow's recent rise from about the 9,500 level in July to above 11,000 early this autumn is a signal by institutional investors that better days are ahead.

After nearly five months, federal regulators have been able to dissect the events of May 6, the day when the Dow plunged almost 1,000 points.

A joint report issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pieced together that day's events and came up with this finding, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. A computerized trading program run by a Waddell & Reed trader automatically sold 35,000 e-mini S&P contracts. These contracts mirror the larger S&P contracts. The trader's program was triggered at 9% of the trade volume.

EPFR Global tracks money flows worldwide. In a Bloomberg article, here are their latest numbers:

• Investors pulled $7.1 billion from stock funds worldwide in the week Aug 25.
• They put $5.2 billion into bonds.
• European equity funds reported net outflows of $15.7 billion
• Global emerging market funds took in $333 million.
• Dollar bonds in developing nations returned 13% this year.Global bonds could surpass last year's record inflow of $47 billion.

I have always felt that for all the blabbing we do -- or blogging, in my case -- we should try as best we can to be accountable for our good and bad calls. This report is long overdue, but I will post it anyway since all of my past year's picks and results have been made public.

The market was very harsh in the early part of 2009, filling investors fear and trepidation, and sinking to a March 9, 2009 bottom. Perhaps some of the bleeding has stopped, but the economy has not healed as bears and bulls seem to carry the day, or every other day.

• The New York Fed's factory gauge decreased to -2.7 this month from +10.1 in July.
• Shipments fell to -11.5 from +6.3.
• The manufacturers outlook index fell to its lowest level since July 2009.