Dow jumps above 8,000 for first time in 2 months

AP on Yahoo ^ | 4/2/09 | Madlen Read and Sara Lepro - ap

[CitizenM]

It has got to be because Obama is out of the country. Let him take a nice long trip and not return until 2012.

[a real Sheila]

I DO think it is being HEAVILY manipulated.
Long story short, more people are going to buy high and sell low and the ones who are manipulating it will find more bargains.

I think it is a concerted effort by friends of BHO to wipe out whatever is left of IRAs so that we will be forced to turn to the government to care for us in our old age.

[napscoordinator]

Start the positive economy stories...stat. Suddenly everything will be coming up daisies. I can see it tomorrow. Obama has done the impossible. The economy is back on track. I know I sound ridiculous, but the news media does this type of thing. Another thing....isn’t it funny that the stock market goes up when he is out of the country. lol. It has been nice not to hear his daily air act these past few days.

[jamese777]

Ben Bernanke at the Fed and a Bush appointee not an Obama clone has been saying for months now that the recession will end in the fourth quarter of 2009 and that “2010 will be a year of recovery.” The leading indicators are beginning to bear out Bernanke’s prediction.
The US economy is too big to be manipulated or overly influenced by any one meglomaniac or by any one President’s short term policies.

[tc45a]

I’m trying with my feeble little brain to figure out how the Dow is exploding up nearly 2000 points in a matter of weeks and yet we lost 3/4 of a MILLION jobs in one month. Please, can someone explain this to me because something is just not adding up here. Is the economy on the recovery?

Simple. The stock market looks ahead. I know this is ancedontal but the company my wife works makes seals for industrial, food and medical use and they are hiring back the entire second shift. Orders have started rolliing in again.

Nearly every type company in the US have run their inventories down to record low levels and they need to start ordering soon.

The economy is going to start turning around I predict late spring/early summer.

[TeleStraightShooter]

Because the only thing that’s changed is they relaxed mark to market. Not that it shouldn’t have been changed, but it’s smoke and mirrors.

Yes and no.
It is to some degree smoke and mirrors but it's that very same smoke and mirrors have caused the banks to fail, for it literally devalued their books.

CNBC concurs

[autumnraine]

Thanks for that graph. I remember reading how the stock market rallied big several times before the big crash.

[PeterPrinciple]

Please, can someone explain this to me because something is just not adding up here. Is the economy on the recovery?

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The stock market is a lottery and people are buying tickets?

[SVTCobra03]

Look for the DOW to hit 10,000 by year end and then crash to 3800 in 2010 when the commercial real estate and credit card bubbles burst.

[CottonBall]

Agreed, but also there was a good time to buy a few weeks ago

Wow - you day traders/week traders have my respect. I'd be a basketcase with the stress from it all!

[jamese777]

Look for the DOW to hit 10,000 by year end and then crash to 3800 in 2010 when the commercial real estate and credit card bubbles burst.

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That would sure prove Ben Bernanke wrong!

[CottonBall]

Look for the DOW to hit 10,000 by year end and then crash to 3800 in 2010 when the commercial real estate and credit card bubbles burst.

There was a thread here last week or so about how the commercial real estate is starting to fall apart. And we used to get a credit card offer at least daily - now, nothing!

I wonder if that means it'll happen sooner than 2010?

My goal now is to keep hubby OUT of the market when he sees it starting to rise. A lot of people will lose their money twice if they fall for this and get back in for the long-term, thinking all is well.

[jveritas]

Who is going to pay for the Trillions of dollars in wasteful spending that Obama and his socialists in Congress have authorized? Eventually this insane wasteful spending by the socialists is going to crush the economy, there is no other way around it.

[CottonBall]

Ben Bernanke at the Fed and a Bush appointee not an Obama clone has been saying for months now that the recession will end in the fourth quarter of 2009 and that “2010 will be a year of recovery.” The leading indicators are beginning to bear out Bernanke’s prediction.

Well, I hope you're right - for everyone's sake. But...I'm still prepared for the worst and won't believe it until it happens. Socialist countries rarely have a strong economy, IMO.

[RetiredArmy]

NY SLIMES HEADLINE: SOCIALISM WORKS!!!! PROOF THAT CAPITALISM IS DEAD!!! WORLD COMMUNISM NOW DOMINATES ALL!!!

[Wyatt's Torch]

Yes and no. It is to some degree smoke and mirrors but it's that very same smoke and mirrors have caused the banks to fail, for it literally devalued their books.

Exactly. Mark to market was overkill/overreaction to a relatively minor problem. In this case, the "cure" was far worse than the disease and when the housing market bubble burst, mark to market was gasoline thrown on the fire.

If you think it doesn't affect individulas, try getting an appraisal on your house. Banks are forced to use foreclosures (i.e. distressed sale) in the comps. they are market anomalies and not indicative of true market value.

[CottonBall]

Who is going to pay for the Trillions of dollars in wasteful spending that Obama and his socialists in Congress have authorized? Eventually this insane wasteful spending by the socialists is going to crush the economy, there is no other way around it.

Good point. The debt will eventually outweigh any economic recovery, I would guess. It'd be like me saying we're doing great because I got a job making 10% more - and ignoring that I have $250,000 in debt.

[Wyatt's Torch]

Non-res construction is already in the crapper. That’s not going to be a surprise to anyone who follows the data...

[agere_contra]

Your post made no sense. How is free trade bad?

Why do American workers need protection from the big bad world?

Why can’t American workers just do what everyone else does: make a product that others will buy?

“If you can’t compete, get the Government to save you” - is that your message to Free Republic? Is that the new American way?

[palmer]

Not a day trader. I just looked at my list of trades, I last bought a month ago (3-2) besides a little bit of BP on wed. The stress isn't a factor as long as you don't go 100% and try to time the averages. Just look for good stocks getting cheap and get back to 60/40 stock (or whatever you are comfortable with). Selling into the rallies is a lot less stressful obviously, but it is important to build up cash (I'm going to aim for 50/50 right now). Choose quality stocks, don't play with averages.

All trades are done by triggers which I set in the evening a couple times a week at most. I don't pay much attention during the day, so I don't consider myself a day trader.