After a strong morning gain on Monday, stocks gave back much of their gains after initial optimism over improvement in the Euro debt problem faded into suspicion that Standard & Poor’s would put many of the Euro zone countries on debt downgrade warning. On Tuesday the major indexes finished mixed, with the Dow leading the way and the NASDAQ registering a small loss. Wednesday saw nearly an exact repeat of Tuesday for the major indexes, as conflicting reports from Europe over debt relief caused stocks to yo-yo much of the day. On Thursday, disappointment over the European Central Bank’s decision to not step-up the purchase of government bonds sent stocks lower about 2%, wiping out the Dow’s gains for the week. Stocks gained back most of the previous day’s loss on Friday as consumer sentiment and October US trade deficit reports pleased investors.

Small cap stocks roared to life this week, out gaining their large-cap counterparts. [table id=40 /]