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

• Another brisk rally last week lifted the Dow Jones Industrial Average 253 points, bringing the index back to within 4 percent of its highest close.

•They say they'll be ready to make ethical choices once they are working for a living. Yet, sizable numbers of teenagers in a new survey also thought that when success is on the line, there's room in business for lying and cheating. Twenty-three percent of respondents to the poll by Junior Achievement and accounting giant Deloitte & Touche said even violence is acceptable "on some level."

•Christmas? New Year's? For many white-collar types, they mean something beyond a season to celebrate: more work. That's according to temporary staffing specialist Accountemps, which says companies often must complete multiple projects by Dec. 31 while at the same time dealing with shrunken staffs because of holiday vacationers. Twenty-eight percent of those it polled said their workloads typically go up in the final days of the year.

•As with Super Bowl commercials, many of us apparently also forget our Christmas presents not long after we've opened them. Or so says online retailer Excitations, which sells "experience gifts" such as white-water rafting trips and gourmet cooking lessons. It surveyed 1,100 adults last month and reports that 34 percent of respondents couldn't recall a single "traditional" present they'd received, even from their spouses.