Dow Closes Up 82, Nasdaq Finishes Up 9

AP ^

[Democracy In Iraq]

Dow Ends Up 82 at 11,317, Nasdaq Ends Up 9 at 2,303 on Patent Settlement by Bristol-Myers Squibb

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks rose Wednesday on upbeat news from big companies: a patent settlement by Bristol-Myers Squibb, strong earnings from Morgan Stanley and a cost-cutting deal between General Motors Corp., Delphi Corp. and the United Auto Workers. The gains were enough to push the Dow Jones industrial average to a new five-year high.

With scant economic data available, the market was driven by news from large-cap stocks. Bristol-Myers jumped 11 percent after the drug maker and its partner, Sanofi-Aventis SA, announced an agreement to settle a patent challenge. Investors were also cheered after Morgan Stanley's quarterly profit rose 17 percent.

Transportation stocks rose after General Motors and parts maker Delphi announced a deal with the UAW that would help the struggling companies cut costs by offering buyouts to 113,000 U.S. hourly workers.

Tech stocks were flat after Microsoft Corp. said it would delay the launch of the consumer version of its new operating system, Vista, until January 2007.

[Democracy In Iraq]

Dow closed at 11,317. The highest closing figure of the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 11,722.98 on January 14, 2000. It's not inconceivable that the downward trend which started in January of 2000 will finally be reversed during the Bush presidency, in spite of a major attack on US soil and a recession.

[harpu]

Thanks for the post...there's too much negative $hit being posted here as of late and it's GREAT to see good news!

[msnimje]

Dangerous Incompetence!!!

[mewzilla]

There was some Dem flack on Cavuto's show today suggesting that the economy's in the dumper. There are none so blind...

[speedy]

Stock market nearing historic highs. Unemployment and inflation exceptionally low. How will we ever survive?

[inkling]

Bush's fault.

[rightinthemiddle]

So, if all the Democrat whiners had been buying stocks during the Bush presidency, they would be rich and Republican.

[in hoc signo vinces]

Yeah but...it's the worst economy since Hoover, right? /sarcasm.

[Dont_Tread_On_Me_888]

So, if all the Democrat whiners had been buying stocks during the Bush presidency, they would be rich and Republican.

"Selective" is the key word. The NASDAQ peaked at about 5200 about 7 months before Bush got elected in 2000. The NASDAQ closed today at 2303, still down 50% from the peak. Conversely, the small and mid cap indexes are at record highs. The crash in 2000-2002 was in large cap and tech stocks. Mid cap, small cap, value, real estate related and international all did fine while the large caps were crashing.

Also, one could have sold short or bought put options to cash in on the crash and long slide down in large caps. There are ways to profit when the market is tanking, just as there are when it is rising, but those techniques are for those sophisticated people who have a good grasp of futures and options.

One has to be selective and know what the trends are and what each class and style is doing. The "market" is made of of many sub-markets, often going in different direction.

[sergeantdave]

Nasdaq Ends Up 9 at 2,303

Cool. Another 3,500 points and my delusional friend who took out a second mortage to invest in the bow-wow nazdog on March, 2000, will break even, not counting inflation, of course.

So where does the hot selling, prophetic book "Dow 36,000" rank on Amazon these days?

[goresalooza]

That damn Bush and his horrible economy, why, we're all going to be in those soup kitchen lines again!

Sarc and LMAO! GO BUSH, GO AMERICA!

[lawdude]

"Dow closed at 11,317. The highest closing figure of the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 11,722.98 on January 14, 2000.

'It's not inconceivable that the downward trend which started in January of 2000 will finally be reversed '"

Good God. The downward trend reversed over two years ago.

[Enduring Freedom]

The Clinton stewardship of the economy, often touted by Lib legacy bootlickers, was a complete fake:

1. The stock indexes were propped up with FAKE accounting at major corporations like Enron, SEC oversight was lacking on Clinton's watch, and the deceit was willfully ignored;
2. The threat of international terrorism was willfully ignored for political purposes despite the WTC being bombed two months after inauguration in 1993. Military preparedness was completely gutted. Peace under Clinton was FAKE;
3. Even the MSM got in on the act with FAKE circulation numbers propping up stock prices and advertising rates.

In conclusion, the Clinton legacy - FAKE.

President Bush, and the economy under him, had to endure countless attacks and complete rebuilding, including managing several Clinton-era financial scandals, massive reinvestment in the military infrastructure, 9/11, war in Afghanistan, war in Iraq, homeland security, biased MSM, etc.

Despite all of these inherited disasters and disadvantages, U.S. economic measures are clawing back to around where they were when Bush took office.

As at January 20, 2001 (Bush Inauguration):
DOW30 Index: 10,587.60
NASDAQ Index: 2,770.38

As at September 10, 2001 (day before 9/11)
DOW30 Index: 9,605.50
NASDAQ Index: 1,695.38

As at September 21, 2001 (market reopens after 9/11)
DOW30 Index: 8,235.80
NASDAQ Index: 1,423.19

As at March 22, 2006 (today)
DOW30 Index: 11,317.43
NASDAQ Index: 2,303.35

[groanup]

Actually the market re-opened on Monday Sept 17 at 9294.55 and proceeded to lose over a thousand points until it bottomed out at Friday's close.

A friend of mine used to have a list of the slit-your-wrist statistics that fell in place on that Friday. I can't remember all of them but things like advance/decline ratios the lowest in a hundred years, etc.

That Friday marked the lowest sentiment readings in the history of the market and launched a rally that took the Dow to 10,500. Pretty amazing stuff in the middle of a bear market and following the attack.

Unfortunately the Dow made new lows a year later around 7300 and the S&P didn't cross above its 200 day moving average until April of 03 which is the last line in the sand to get fully invested.

The rest is, as they say, history. All the while we were in "the worst economy since Hoover". LOL.

[BushCountry]

With unemployment in my neck of the woods at 2.2% the naysayers are still going to come out and explain how this recovery is an illusion.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Big BUMP!

[reformedliberal]

Actually, he admitted that the economy is doing well. What he was oh-so-smoothly saying (and Cavuto called him on it repeatedly) was that the *perception* of a *bad* economy could work to the donks' favor in November. The topic was the liberal media dissing the economy.

He was a piece of work.

[mewzilla]

He was a piece of work.

LOL. Good description. Apt, too. He was working, wasn't he? :)

[Robert A Cook PE]

I was wondering how close we were coming to an all-time high.

Though, of course, the MSM will ignore it.

[Robert A Cook PE]

BUT!

The "Hype" of the DOW (at first - it REALLY only rose strongly AFTER the Repubbies got the House in 94, then grew from 94-98) during the Clinton years by the media, then the NASDAQ (from 98-99 when the DOW went flat) was NOT really what the companies were worth.

Make sense? It was "tulip money" based on hype and speculation about the dotcom industry and the low oil prices.

Now, after 6 years of growth in the economy, balanced by REAL growth in the value of the companies as the stock prices dropped, flattened, then slowly recovered means that the REAL (minus inflation) value of the companies is actually reflected by stock prices.

Make sense? Earlier, the DOW stock prices were artificially too high - then they dropped too far after 9/11 and the democrats' incessant demand for recession news, then they took a long time to recover back to where it should be.

A steady 2-4% growth in the economy from 2000 to now means that the DOW SHOULD be shortly above all-time highs again.