Stocks Soar: Dow Hits 15000, S&P 500 Above 1600

[Nye Bevan]

Source: CNBC

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up more than 150 points to trade above 15,000 for the first time, led by Caterpillar and American Express, extending its gains from the previous session.

The S&P 500 surpassed 1,600 and the Nasdaq also rallied. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, slumped below 13.

All key S&P sectors were in positive territory, led by materials and industrials.



Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100704308

[geckosfeet]

1. Historic events.

[Eljo_Don]

24. You know.

Wall St. do make all indicators go up or down as they please. They sell and buy imaginary stocks to fake the numbers.

[geckosfeet]

25. I am really sorry you feel that way. My view is that these are important economic indicators.

I am sure there is some manipulation.
Doesn't make it any less significant of an event.

[AdHocSolver]

26. The fact that the stock market is so high when the real economy is limping along...

...should be adequate demonstration that there is little connection between the stock market and the economy.

Historically, one of the main reasons a stock price rises so quickly is when company A buys company B and then management fires half of the employees of the newly merged company.

Then there is the Enron technique of cooking the books, the technique of having the government bail you out from your mistakes, millisecond computer trading, and a few other scams that I can't think of at the moment.

The health of an economy is reflected, not in its stock prices, but in its employment (or in its unemployment) figures.

The stock market has become little more than a gambling casino rigged in favor of Wall street.

[geckosfeet]

28. Companies and businesses are flush with cash - because they are running lean

and squeezing their employees and not hiring. I agree with part of what you are saying about scams used to inflate stock prices, but that is relatively rare. Most company stock values reflect the overall health and value of the company.

I also understand the cynicism regarding the stock market, Wall Street and the financial industry in general. They will take your money and walk away without looking back if you let them.

But I also believe that a healthy economy must have healthy businesses to employ people. Companies sell stock and generally the value of the stock reflects the basic health of the company. Therefore the stock market is an important indicator. It is not the only indicator, but it is an important one. Employment is an important one as well. So is the housing market. All these indicators had relatively good news this week. Not perfect, but heading in the right direction.

The OP was a simple observation of the fact that a stock market milestone was reached today, and did not intend to argue the relative social merits of the stock market.

[lastlib]

2. Buh, buh, buh, but--Obama's bad for the economy...!!

da$& soshulizm!

[L0oniX]

3. The homeless and jobless are happy about that I'm sure. n/t

[Newest Reality]

6. Absolutey thrilled!

I'm overflowing with joy for the investor class and owners.

Being, literally, a Serf right now, my hopes are that the Lords stay fat and happy.

[LanternWaste]

23. No more or less than their desperation when it drops...

I imagine it's no more nor less than their desperation when it drops...

Six of one, half a dozen of the other and all that...

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

4. Worst President ever for big business....

....or something like that....

[DCBob]

9. The Rethugs still wont give him credit..

They will say business is thriving in spite of Obama and the market would be a 1000 points higher if Rmoney had won. They will never admit it the truth.

[ErikJ]

16. OBAMA WORST SOCIALIST-EVER!

[cbdo2007]

5. It's nice to be making money for a change!

Gonna be a nice birthday for my daughter when I take some profits!! Woohoo!!!!!

[OKNancy]

7. watch it, you will be accused of being a corporate evil 1%er

I'm happy too. Retirement money may last a little longer.

[grantcart]

14. You corporate evil 1%!!

Didn't want to let you feel overlooked!



Hope your retirement money continues to grow!

[leftynyc]

8. I'm glad too

I got creamed in 2008 - this is good news for anyone with stocks or a 401k plan.

[Berlum]

10. RepubliPiggies grab buckets of $$$, and condemn Obama's "shitty economic leadership"

As usual. RepubliPiggies trash the President of the USA for what they bulshittily call "socialism" and meanwhile engorge their already porkulent keesters with more more more money money money money (the core Republican "value&quot .

[tomm2thumbs]

11. If Romney had been elected, they would be touting this as a sign of confidence from America

oh wait.... but Mitt didn't get elected.

What will FoxNubes make of this now.... a blip in the statistics? a temporary aberration? a fluke?

Let's watch as the GOP white wash spin cycle slips into high gear

[DreamSmoker]

12. Here is Fact

Funny how I had top hear it from my Wife this morning..
You would not know it if you did not read about it yourself..

Nothing on TV or Radio yet...
It appears to be ignored by the Media...

[Cali_Democrat]

13. It will all trickle down in short order

Have patience. It hasn't trickled down in over 30 years since Reagan, but it will happen soon!

[Nye Bevan]

17. Have you forgotten Bill Clinton's presidency?

Average economic growth of 4.0% per year, compared to average growth of 2.8% during the previous years. The economy grew for 116 consecutive months, the most in history.[77]

Creation of more than 22.5 million jobs—the most jobs ever created under a single administration, and more than were created in the previous 12 years. Of the total new jobs, 20.7 million, or 92%, were in the private sector.[78]

Economic gains spurred an increase in family incomes for all Americans. Since 1993, real median family income increased by $6,338, from $42,612 in 1993 to $48,950 in 1999 (in 1999 dollars).[79]

Overall unemployment dropped to the lowest level in more than 30 years, down from 6.9% in 1993 to just 4.0% in January 2001. The unemployment rate was below 5% for 40 consecutive months. Unemployment for African Americans fell from 14.2% in 1992 to 7.3% in 2000, the lowest rate on record. Unemployment for Hispanics fell from 11.8% in October 1992 to 5.0% in 2000, also the lowest rate on record.[78]

Inflation dropped to its lowest rate since the Kennedy Administration, averaging 2.5%, and fell from 4.7% during the previous administration.[80]

The homeownership rate reached 67.7% near the end of the Clinton administration, the highest rate on record. In contrast, the homeownership rate fell from 65.6% in the first quarter of 1981 to 63.7% in the first quarter of 1993.[81]

The poverty rate also declined from 15.1% in 1993 to 11.8% in 1999, the largest six-year drop in poverty in nearly 30 years. This left 7 million fewer people in poverty than there were in 1993.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Bill_Clinton

None of this counts as "trickling down"?

[Cali_Democrat]

18. Oh...so it actually did trickle down?

Good to know.

Unfortunately worker productivity and contribution to GDP was much higher than actual wage growth. So while there was wage growth during the period you mentioned, much the worker contribution to GDP and productivity increases resulted in much more wealth to the top 1% and multinational corporations than it did in wages to workers.

But thanks for letting me know you're a believer in trickle down. This wouldn't be DU without a few people who espouse right wing economic talking points.

[Nye Bevan]

19. So praising the economic growth and low unemployment under Bill Clinton

is now "espousing right-wing talking points"?

Okayyyyyyyyyy.......

[Cali_Democrat]

20. Well....you seem to think trickle down was effective during that period...

None of this counts as "trickling down"?

Laughable.

During the period mentioned, workers actually got peanuts compared to the amount of wealth that flowed to the wealthy and corporations.

Go sell that trickle down hogwash somewhere else.

I ain't buying.

[BeyondGeography]

15. The Fed has fixed it so there's nowhere else to earn money on yourr money

It's just all bubbles now. I guess they've temporarily made the best of a bad situation. We'll find out one of these years.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

21. Yep.

These celebrations will be short lived.


There are still a lot of fucking people out of work and a shitload more who can't afford to buy the crap they're selling because they're being paid peanuts.

Save the confetti.

[BeyondGeography]

22. Sell

If you can afford to. Have some fun/buy something durable before the party ends.

Of course, this is not possible for savers. The big money? Other story.

[Brigid]

27. Wake me when wages start going up.

[Norbert]

29. If this keeps up I may be able to retiuure someday.

In January 2009 my 401k was going up in smoke.