Dow gains 249 points

This was a great day for anyone who believes that the recovery is really taking shape. A bunch of economic reports came out - car sales, payroll jobs, manufacturing - and most of them were decent. Not spectacular, mind you, but strong enough to keep the dream alive. Dow finished up 2.3 percent, to 11,255. Keep in mind, of course, that December can be a funky month for stocks, with various end-of-year buying and selling that can gum things up.