Posted on 12/17/2005 8:22:07 AM PST by new yorker 77
Investors will sort through data on housing, durable goods and inflation plus earnings from companies like FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX - news) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MWD - news) next week, but none are expected to pack enough punch to undo the year's gains and derail Dow's push toward 11,000.
And as usual, the market will keep a close watch on the price of crude oil, which closed solidly below $60 a barrel on Friday, easing concerns that high energy costs will pinch corporate and household budgets.
"I think between now and the end of the year, the market is going to have a mild upward bias," said Stanley Nabi, vice chairman at Silvercrest Asset Management Group. "There is nothing that will come out on the economic front next week that will redirect the market."
Factors that have pushed stocks up in recent weeks include data showing the economy is on solid footing as well as the Federal Reserve signaling that its interest-rate-raising cycle was nearing an end.
"I think the market will continue to rally as the economic data continues to improve," said Steve Neimeth, portfolio manager for AIG SunAmerica Asset Management.
"The Consumer Price Index came in 'in line' with expectations, which calmed investors," Neimeth added. "And the Fed commented that they're not particularly concerned about inflation and that they don't seem to be any more aggressive in raising rates."
So far this year, the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - news) is up 0.86 percent, the Standard and Poor's 500 index (^SPX - news) is up 4.57 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC - news) is up 3.54 percent.
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(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
End of the year rallies are the norm. The Dow is close to 11,000 and should really have no trouble meeting and even exceeding it, until the end of the year profit taking begins; if it hasn't already...which is WHY there are sellers.
Year end rallies might be the norm, but if people were truly convinced that the Dow will be at 11,000, it would already be there.
If you were very sure, wouldn't you liquidate your assets and put them into a security that broadly tracks the Dow? Again, the fact that the Dow is at its current level rather than already at 11000 shows that there are willing SELLERS at the current levels, meaning not everyone is as convinced as the conventional wisdom would suggest.
I don't post for popularity and I'll leave if the Robinsons ask me to.
I knew you would say that. You see, you libs all think the same way, while claiming to be "independent" thinkers. I guess that's what happens when you buy into a philosophy that only asks for blind allegiance to a central authority. Enjoy your Kool-Aid.
Just because I don't wnat to read something I'm AGAINST free speech?
Of course not.
But you're posting to a political discussion board. If you post something contentious and refuse to read a dissenting view then your commitment to free speech and rational analysis is suspect.
Naturally I have a high opinion of my own views. :)
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