Loneliness, Dow Closes Above 16000, Food Friday

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• Loneliness A Hazard To Health, Research Says

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  It’s common for some people to feel lonely this time of year as others gather with family over the holidays. However, research suggests the line between “being alone” and “being lonely” is subtle but significant.

  Elizabeth Bernstein, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, said that loneliness can even be hazardous to people’s health.

  “Being chronically lonely is more dangerous to your health than alcoholism or a 15-cigarette-a-day habit,” she said. “That’s pretty dangerous.”

  Bernstein said this is in part because more people are living alone nowadays. Also, as Baby Boomers age, friends and loved ones are passing away. Finally, modern technology might be contributing to loneliness.

  “All this time that we spend behind our screens, connecting, searching Facebook, doing whatever it is … doesn’t allow us much time with people, making actual connections,” Bernstein said.

  To break the cycle of loneliness, Bernstein suggests coming to terms with the loneliness first.

  “You have to tell yourself it is OK to be lonely,” Bernstein said.

  Next, she said it’s important to find things the person likes to do — even if they go on to do it by themselves.

  “Take yourself to the restaurant and sit at the bar, talk to the bartender. There’s things you can do to be around people, and usually if you’re around people and you want to talk, you’ll end up talking,” Bernstein said.

• Journalist: Dow Jones Record Doesn't Mean Economy Is Recovered

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  The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed on Thursday just above 16,000 for the first time ever amid optimism around the U.S. Senate Banking Committee’s approval of Janet Yellen nomination for Federal Reserve chair and unexpected positive jobs reports — both of which helped boost the markets to a record high.

  Although the news is positive for Wall Street, it doesn’t greatly affect the broader populous, according to Roben Farzad, a writer who covers Wall Street for Bloomberg Businessweek. He said significant unemployment and low spending doesn’t match with some of the big gains in the stock market.

  “The stock market has had far bigger gains at the same time that unemployment has been chronically high and the economy has been growing rather tepidly coming out of an economic crisis of this size, you’d expect a bigger a bigger bounce back,” he said.

  Farzad, who started his career at the investment bank of Goldman Sachs, said the economy still has much recovery ahead.

  “Wall Street (may have) reconstituted itself, housing is back in certain markets, but this is very much a story of how the other half lives,” he said.

  He said that the Dow is only one market indicator of the recovery, and one that should be considered in isolation.

  “If you go out and seek out economic pain indicators … there are people out there who have experience. There are kids out of college who have degrees that can’t get jobs. You have record number of 22-year-olds living with their parents,” he said.

• When Does Being Alone Becomes Loneliness?

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  The holiday season is just starting, which can be a lonely time for some. Wall Street Journal columnist Elizabeth Bernstein discusses how loneliness is related to mortality and when being alone becomes being lonely.

• Dow Ends Above 16,000 For First Time

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  The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures closed yesterday for the first time above 16000, growing for the seventh straight week in a row and achieving the 40th record-high close of the year. We speak with a Bloomberg Business writer see if this will be a continuing trend.

• Food Friday: Perfect Pies For Thanksgiving

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  Need a knockout dessert for your Thanksgiving celebration? A pie-baking champion has some tips to nail that perfect pie (and make you envy of your family).