Dow Jones Breaks 13,000 

BY VICTORIA CRAIG After weeks of flirting with 13,000 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average kissed the coveted mark early in the trading day Tuesday before falling back slightly. CNN explains why 13,000 is such a psychologically significant number. "Some people look at the Dow for confid... More

BY VICTORIA CRAIG After weeks of flirting with 13,000 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average kissed the coveted mark early in the trading day Tuesday before falling back slightly. CNN explains why 13,000 is such a psychologically significant number. "Some people look at the Dow for confidence as far as how good the economy is doing...the Dow has come a long way from where it's been. It's really made up a lot of ground." The Dow hasn't touched 13,000 points since right before the 2008 financial crisis. With all the talk surrounding the indices' potential to reach the benchmark, what finally pushed it over the edge? The Economic Times reports, it had to do with conflict across the Atlantic. "U.S. stocks got help from a long-awaited bailout deal for Greece, aimed at preventing a potentially catastrophic default, and from strong corporate earnings reports at home." Strong corporate earnings are only the half of it. The New York Times reports, a number of factors are providing momentum for the market. "Economic data has been on a positive trend ... the jobs market ... showed a gain of 243,000 jobs in January, and the lowest unemployment rate since early 2009. In addition, corporate balance sheets are flush with cash and interest rates are low, with the prospect of such rates continuing to remain that way through 2014 ... fuelling hopes that the housing market would benefit." While many are celebrating the Dow's surge to 13,000, one trader says the gain isn't worth the hype. Those on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange put more weight on the Standard and Poor's 500 index. Still, he admits the Dow's climb will boost confidence for another segment of the population. "It's significant for the public outside this building. It's a headline that'll draw people back into the equity markets that have had their money parked in the bond funds saying, 'look what's going on, it's real.'" While it might not be enough to make investors toss confetti, one trader says the historic mark does prove one thing. "At the very least anybody who said that QE 1 and QE2 didn't work, we're at 13,000 on the Dow. You print enough money, you'll get stock prices and asset prices right back toward the highs." Now the question is, will it last? An analyst on Fox Business speculates. "Right now, we think we're in an upward trend so I'd be buying at this point. When you look at it, we think we're in a cyclical bull market inside a continuing bear market, so I would not suggest this is something you hold for a couple of years." The Street notes the Dow still has a long way to go before breaking its all time high of 14,164 points. Less

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Added Feb 22, 2012  

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Tags dow jones industrial average  dow jones  dow jones index  wall street  stock market  business news  new york stock exchange  nyse 

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