Posted on 10/24/2005 10:05:38 AM PDT by Steven W.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks climbed on Monday as investors' focus shifted from positive earnings to a report that President Bush has picked his top economic adviser Ben Bernanke to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.
Falling crude oil prices lifted energy shares like Exxon Mobil Corp. , which helped boost both the blue-chip Dow average and the broad Standard & Poor's 500. Exxon Mobil was up 1.6 percent at $56.26 on the New York Stock Exchange.
According to a knowledgeable source, Bush was likely to pick Bernanke, 51, a Fed governor who became a top White House adviser last June, to succeed Greenspan, 79, as Fed chairman.
The mere mention of Bernanke for the Fed's top job, market analysts said, helped fuel some of the market's rally even before the official announcement later in the session. The announcement is expected to come at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT).
"It's actually rallied a little on it. We have a couple skeptical folks here, but the market obviously likes it. The market's been a bit all over the map, but the last little run-up coincides with that rumor hitting the Street," said Rich Parker, head of trading at Stamford Group in New York.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 109 points, or 1.07 percent, at 10,324.40. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 12.52 points, or 1.06 percent, at 1,192.11. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was up 14.82 points, or 0.71 percent, at 2,097.03.
Bernanke served on the Fed's Board of Governors for nearly three years before he was sworn in on June 21 as chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.moneycentral.msn.com ...
I wonder if it's so much for Bernanke as it is a reminder to everyone that Greenspan is leaving.
it's both - Greenspan has overstayed his welcome with another series of rate hikes that reminds everybody he never learned his lesson from 2000 + Ben was the best pick.
That was then.
OMG-spammer!
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