[Quest:] Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment. This is CNN, and on this network, the news always comes first. The Venezuelan vice president and the acting leader, Nicolas Maduro, has delivered an emotional eulogy for President Hugo Chavez in Caracas. The funeral lasted about two hours and included appearances by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the American Baptist preacher Reverend Jesse Jackson. President Chavez died on Tuesday after a long struggle with cancer. A hundred and fifteen cardinals will begin their conclave to elect a new pope on Tuesday. All the cardinals are now at the Vatican, and they're holding general meetings and preparing for the conclave. The Vatican says they will go into seclusion after a special mass to be held on Tuesday morning. As you heard on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, US unemployment rate fell two tenths of a percent and now stands at 7.7 percent. More than a quarter of a million new jobs were added last month, with construction, hospitals, and manufacturing sectors all reporting strong gains. A son-in-law of the late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been arraigned in a New York courtroom. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to kill US nationals. Twenty-one UN peacekeepers being held by civilian rebels near the Golan Heights may soon be set free. The head of the UN peacekeeping force says the Filipino peacekeepers could be released during a brief cease-fire. However the Syrian National Coalition is calling on the International Red Cross to evacuate the soldiers as well as wounded civilians. Anyone who had any interest in the business world, particularly equities, knew that global stocks soared and that they've been boosted by monetary easing, cheap money and now a better jobs report. I insist that you join me in the library as we just look at a week that saw the Dow, the DAX, the Nikkei all have such strong sessions. The Nikkei remember the all-time high for the Nikkei was back in 1989. But it closed at a 412-year peak, up nearly 6 percent this week. Not only is there a new head of the Bank of Japan, who's committed to more easing to get rid of deflation and to restore growth, revised Q4 showed Japan escaped recession. The yen is weakened around 20 percent against the dollar. That boosts this incredible exporting nation and puts it more competitive. As for Germany, where we were last night, 8,000 on the DAX, in trade first time in five years. And the crucial comment by Mario Draghi yesterday, that not only will he keep he will keep his long-term refinancing and he will keep the open-ended allotment, it all shows that it will keep going on an open-ended basis, hence of course why the DAX and other markets have been strong. But this was this was the star. The Dow has now hit the fourth straight intraday record; it's up 2 percent on the week. And if you look at how it's gone absolutely like a rocket. Alison Kosik is on the floor of the stock exchange. Alison, you and I in our relationship of years have seen the highs and the lows of this market. So tell me
[Alison Kosik, Cnn Business Correspondent:] We have.
[Quest:] what's the move? Never mind the numbers; never mind the reason. What do they think there?
[Kosik:] You know what, the mood is really good, although today it's a little more cautious. You're seeing the Dow for one. Let's talk about the Dow for one. It's at record highs. As you say, they've hit the trifecta of highs - at least, at the close, three days in a row, it's going for a fourth right now. How could that not help the mood, right? Well, now guess what the focus on? The focus is on the S&P; 500. You look at the S&P; 500, it's at 1,549. Everybody's looking for 1,565. You're seeing a little caution, Richard, because we've seen the S&P; 500 hit a little more resistance. And so you're seeing it back down. I know all the focus has been on the Dow. But this trading floor is really focusing on the S&P; 500, which is a broader measure of the stocks, Richard.
[Quest:] So since it's a Friday and we have this extra second or two, where do you stand, Alison, at two views in CNN at the moment, some people are some of our colleagues saying the Dow is not important. It's 30 stocks. Others, like Ali Velshi, reminding us, yes, but they're the big 30. And they're vast parts of the economy. Where do you stand on it?
[Kosik:] I think I stand in the corner of the Dow really isn't representative of the economy anymore. I mean, you see how all this how many stocks have come and gone. Actually, the Dow these days is very tech- heavy. We're already got a lot of tech stocks. Think about the Nasdaq. I'd go with the S&P; 500. I say let's watch the S&P; 500, see what that does. Now if you think the S&P; 500 break through that resistance, I'd say the sky is the limit, because what would ultimately probably happen is, if the S&P; is able to break through that resistance level, you're going to see the Dow fall as well and keep going higher. So I like to watch the S&P; 500. How about you, Richard?
[Quest:] I still like the Dow. I'm a Dow man because I still believe it's got that psychological point. Alison, good to see you. It's been a good week for equities. And let's face it; unless you've really shorted the market, most people are long in their pensions funds, in their retirement accounts and then when you do see the market when you see these sort of numbers that we have seen during the week, you've got to admit that it is a pretty powerful message. So when we come back on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS
[Unidentified Male:] [Inaudible].
[Quest:] I assure you, the family viewing you don't want to know what was behind the beeps. But it is Justin Bieber. He walked out of his hotel and into an enormous amount of.