For the first time in 18 months, the Dow Jones industrial average tipped the scale over 11,000 points on Friday and then closed at 10,997.35.  This is a 70 point improvement from yesterday’s trading and expectations are that it will close above 11,000 on Monday.

Housing prices seem to be stabilizing and mortgage rates are still low and with the Dow up nearly 68% since its closing low on March 9, 2009 and the NASDAQ up nearly 90%, it appears the fears of a double dip in the recession may be calming.

On the employment spectrum, unemployment is still at 9.7% and 33 states are out of money for unemployment insurance.  More than 200,000 Americans are waiting for the Senate to restore their extended unemployment insurance.  Approximately 11.2 million people are collecting unemployment insurance and the average length of collection time is 31.2 weeks.

A lot of things are still up in the air in regards to the economy, but overall, it seems things are looking up.  We’ll see how this 2nd quarter pans out with the stock markets, housing market and housing.