Markets were headed higher on Monday; the Dow has officially hit a record high of 16,000 while the S&P 500 surpassed the 1,800 mark. These new highs were hit as the economy has continued to improve throughout the year. Following suit with the upbeat economic news, the National Association of Home Builders announced the U.S. homebuilder confidence remained steady in November after a decline of two months in a row. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index reported 54 for the month of November. This followed 54 for October. Economist were expecting a slightly higher 55. Rick Judson, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said, ?Given the current interest rate and pricing environment, consumers continue to show interest in purchasing new homes, but are holding back because Congress keeps pushing critical decisions on budget, tax and government spending issues down the road.? Readings that come in above 50 for the index show that builder confidence is positive and the index has sat above 50 for the past six months. David Crowe, NAHB Chief Economist, said, ?The fact that builder confidence remains above 50 is an encouraging sign, considering the unresolved debt and federal budget issues cause builders and consumers to remain on the sideline.?

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Shares of Boeing Company (BA) were up over 2% on Monday morning after the company received nearly $106 billion in orders at the Dubai Airshow. The company is redesigning their long-haul jet, the 777. They will be deciding on where they will be producing the new jets in the next 2-3 months. Jim McNerney, Chairman and Chief Executive, said ?We will be announcing within the next 2-3 months very specific plans for manufacturing. We have a number of alternatives and we are in the process of considering them.? The new plane will be called the 777X and is said it will be, ?the largest, most efficient twin-engine jet in the world,? the company said. The 259 orders placed and order commitments for the new jet is the largest in history for a plane of similar size.

Shares of General Electric (GE) were trading higher after the company announced their plans to spin off their North American consumer lending program through an initial public offering. They have filed necessary paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to be able to begin the process in the first quarter of 2014. The finance arm of the company provides store credit cards through retailers. In the filing GE said that they will sell up to 20% of the new company through the IPO. They will then distribute the remaining stake to GE stockholders in exchange for GE common stock.