Breathing down on 20k. Holiday sales up; online leads the way. Why would you go to a mall? Consumer confidence climbs – maybe I should take the credit. Home prices up but the trend is unsustainable. World’s oldest bank on the brink. Toshiba flubs again. Panasonic and Tesla bring manufacturing jobs to Buffalo. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 12-27-2016 DOW + 11 = 19,945 SPX + 5 = 2268 NAS + 24 = 5487 RUT + 6 = 1377 10 Y + .02 = 2.56% OIL + .63 = 53.65 GOLD + 10.00 = 1139.30   The Dow Jones industrial average marked its seventh straight week of gains on Friday. Today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average once again flirted with the widely-watched 20,000 level… and once again failed to make it through. The index hit an opening peak of 19,980, just a few points shy of last week’s record highs, but went sideways thereafter, with volume about 50 percent below the 30-day average (typical of the final trading week of the year.) Treasury yields rose the most in almost two weeks. U.S. crude prices were up over 1% and briefly moved above the $54 a barrel level. Gasoline prices are at $2.28 a gallon, national average. That’s four cents a gallon more than a week ago today. Oil markets adopting a wait-and-see approach before the first “OPEC and non-OPEC” output cut deal in 15 years goes into effect. The accord, which kicks in on Jan. 1, is designed to bolster oil prices by lowering production of all ...