A Week's Worth: Quick takes on the world of work and money

Dow's modest gain, recession may not stifle job-changing, more people buying car insurance online.

•Almost unnoticed amid the negative economic headlines, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed ahead by 0.5 percent last Friday, its first weekly gain in a month.

•Assuming that a recession is clearly under way in the months ahead, will you cling to your job for dear life? Not if you're like the majority of respondents to Salary.com's annual employment satisfaction survey. It polled 7,000 job-holders and found that just over 60 percent planned to look for new opportunities (for such reasons as inadequate compensation or lack of promotion). But "they won't make a move unless they receive a good offer from a stable employer," says a Salary.com executive.

•For 65 percent of Americans over 50, impending retirement is nothing to be alarmed about, reports SecurePath, an affiliate of the Transamerica group of life insurance companies. In a survey on uncertainty, risk, and retirement expectations, it found overwhelming confidence among respondents that they'll handle them well. Asked about investing for the future at this stage, 58 percent agreed with the philosophy "nothing ventured, nothing gained."

•More and more people are buying their auto insurance online, according to comScore Inc., which tracks Internet traffic for that market. At first, it says, vehicle owners used the Web to educate themselves on the subject and compare premiums, but stopped there. In 2006, however, 1.5 million policies were sold online "because it represents potential time- and cost-saving," comScore says. Last year's total: 2.1 million.