Euro-zone Leaders Agree;Montana Grizzlies Win

Leaders of 17 European nations which use the Euro as their currency have agreed to a series of measures designed to prevent the current debt crisis from occurring again;the U.K. rejected the pact,and several other European countries are studying it further.This contented the stock market for now,sending the major averages up on the week.The Dow gained 1.37%,while the S&P rose 0.88 and the NASDAQ added 0.76.The S&P remains slightly down on the year at -0.19.
In college football,the Montana Grizzlies drew on boisterous hometown support at Washington Grizzly Stadium in Missoula to take a quarterfinal game in the NCAA Division I Championship series,crushing the Northern Iowa Panthers 48-10.Student fans cheered on concrete during the game,having destroyed the seats in their enthusiasm.The Grizzlies will play the winner of the Montana State and Sam Houston State quarterfinal match-up for the title.Fireworks were launched in celebration and a gigantic M was lit up on the mountain behind the stadium at elevation 700 feet.It was 23 degrees F at game time,but the Grizzlies went bare-armed anyway.
In golf,Spaniard Alvaro Quiros leads the Dubai World Championship through two rounds at the Earth Course of the Jumeirah Golf Estates in the United Arab Emirates with a twelve under par 64.Luke Donald of England,the current world number one,is in contention to capture the overall European Tour title at the tournament.
Next week,Wall Street will continue to monitor European developments,as well as an OPEC oil cartel meeting in Vienna on Wednesday.FedEx and General Mills will report their earnings.The S&P futures were up a strong 22.80 on Friday evening,while bond index futures declined.
FedEx(FDX),General Mills(GIS)

Santa Anas Blast SoCal;McIlroy and Quiros Lead

The San Gabriel Valley was rocked by hurricane force Santa Ana winds this week in a rare event the likes of which are seen only once in 5-10 years.The tremendous gusts decimated the urban forests of Southern California as communities lost hundreds of treasured trees,losing power and even water in the process.Pasadena was particularly hard hit,with some 450 street trees being toppled by the winds.Homes were damaged in these lands along the San Gabriel Mountains,where gusts of up to 80 mph were recorded.
The fire risk was described as explosive by a weather service official.The Santa Anas are known for the catastrophic wildland fires they often contribute to in the region.
Rumors of European progress and positive manufacturing and employment trends protected the market this week.All major averages posted gains north of 7%.For the week,the S&P 500 rose 7.39.On the year,the S&P is still down 1.06,however.
The Race To Dubai,The European Tour,made its next to last stop at the Hong Kong Golf Club.After two rounds of the UBS Hong Kong Open,Alvaro Quiros of Spain and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy topped the leader board.Luke Donald of England led the series going into this weekend,followed by German Martin Kaymer and McIlroy in second and third place,respectively.
Next week will be back-loaded by an important Friday summit in Brussels on changes to the EU treaty for fiscal discipline.Other influential events will include the Institute for Supply Management's service sector report on Monday and a consumer sentiment reading also on Friday.The S&P futures were basically flat at -0.10 Friday evening,while bond index futures rose.