Once again, it’s been a wild week on the stock market. This week, though, it’s been wild in the positive direction, with the Dow gaining almost 500 points in one day. Optimism has returned, driven by record sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. U.S. consumers appear ready to spend again, and the holiday shopping season is a good time for them to show it.

In addition to good news (for now) on the stock market, some companies have announced dividend increases:

• Graco Inc (GGG) announced today that is is going to increase its quarterly dividend. This is not the baby products company, which is private. Graco Inc. designs and manufactures equipment related to fluid materials. The dividend increase is of 7.1%, bringing the quarterly dividend up to 22.5 cents a share. The new dividend is payable February 1, 2012, to shareholders of record on January 17, 2012. Right now, GGG is higher, trading at $42.74 a share.
• Wells Fargo (WFC): Wells Fargo isn’t exactly raising dividends right now. However, the bank does want to raise it. In fact, the bank plans to ask regulators if it can increase the dividend, along with the stress test results it is handing in. Even though the banking sector is still struggling somewhat, many banks want to attract shareholders with better dividends. Right now WFC is trading higher at $26.28 a share.
• Daktronics Inc. (DAKT) has effectively doubled its semi-annual payout, bringing it to 11 cents a share. The company, which makes scoreboards, also announced a special dividend of 40 cents a share in an effort to increase shareholder value and attract investors. DAKT is up to $9.87 a share.
• Wisconsin Energy Corp. (WEC) is boosting its dividend from 26 cents a share to 30 cents a share. The company is forecasting record earnings for 2011, and planning to share some of that with shareholders of record on February 14, 2012, for payout on March 1. WEC is higher a little lower today, trading at $33.08 a share.