Investors could get used to this whole “optimism” thing.
For a third day, stock markets climbed higher on Thursday as Wall Street seized on some less-than-dire glimmers from the banking system, retail sales, the auto industry and the General Electric Company. In the last hour of trading, financial markets were about 3 percent higher after rising steadily all day.
Financial companies and major banks led the way, but traders said they were cheered by the breadth of the upward move. Every sector was higher, from technology companies to car companies to retailers.
At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was 239.66 points or 3.4 percent higher, at 7,170.06 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was up 4 percent or 29.38 points, to 750.74. The Nasdaq was 3.97 percent or 54.46 points higher, at 1,426.10.
But even as traders watched green flicker across their trading screens, many were wondering, “Will it last?” Previous market bounces and bear-market rallies have melted away, dragging stocks to 12-year lows, as investors grew more concerned about the deteriorating economy and the solvency of major banks. Would this time be different?
My thoughts:
You gotta start somwhere..love to see that scale lurching up!!
