 |
Search - Finance Home - Yahoo! - Help |
 |
Posted on 09/18/2003 12:41:04 PM PDT by teletech
|
|||
|
||||||||||||||||
Reuters
(Updates to late afternoon)
NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Stocks rallied in late Thursday afternoon trading after a batch of positive economic data bolstered investor optimism that the economic recovery is picking up speed and will help fatten corporate profits.
Earlier, before the market open, the government said weekly jobless claims fell in the last week, down 29,000 to 399,000, which was better than Wall Street expected. But the widely watched four-week moving average -- seen as a more accurate reflection of unemployment than the more volatile weekly figure -- moved higher. In other economic readings, the Conference Board, a private research firm, said the index of leading indicators rose 0.4 percent in August, its fourth straight month of gains. Taken together, the reports all added to evidence that the economic recovery is picking up steam, analysts said. The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - News) rose 99 points, or 1.04 percent, to 9,645. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index (CBOE:^SPX - News) added 12 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,038. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index (NasdaqSC:^IXIC - News) gained 23 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,906. "The general trend in the market has been up because the economy has been showing strength and the data today was pretty good," said Peter Dunay, chief market and options strategist at Wall Street Access. "The trend continues to be to the upside, and momentum is carrying things forward as investors assume the economy is going to be so strong that it'll translate into strong gross domestic product numbers and push up earnings," Dunay said. Financial sector stocks led gainers, helped by Bear Stearns Cos Inc. (NYSE:BSC - News) after the investment bank reported earnings that blew past Wall Street estimates. Bear, the No. 6 U.S. brokerage, said its third-quarter profit nearly doubled, driven by strength in its bond business. Shares of Bear Stearns rose $3.68, or 5.08 percent, to $76.15. Shares of American Express Co.(NYSE:AXP - News) surged to a 2-1/2-year high of $47.21 after a court ruling that could eventually let it issue cards through banks that are members of its rivals Visa and MasterCard. American Express led the Dow's percentage gainers. The stock was last up $1.72 or 3.8 percent at $47.05, pushing the S&P financial index (^GSPF - News) up 2.3 percent. AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:AOL - News) also rose, after the media company's board of directors approved changing its name to Time Warner, a widely expected move seen as an admission of its failure to mesh old and new media assets. AOL shares added 16 cents, or 0.98 percent, to $16.46. The company also said it would revert to the stock ticker TWX, which was Time Warner's stock symbol before it was acquired by America Online.
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
< sarcasm off >
...Daschle "saddened."
Deeply!
< sarcasm off >
BWA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
...Daschle "saddened."
Poor Little Tommy.
Mine too!
Probably MORE important in some folks minds.
I also read where "outsourcing" has created BIG problems for some companies. In the long run, I think fewer companies will think outsourcing is a good idea.
"Without jobs"? Today's news also included word of 29,000 new jobs being created in the past 2 weeks. This month's unemployment rate is lower than last months. Dubya's first term unemployment was lower than Clintons. Yet the lamestream press and the Patsies are whining -- go figure!
You have misinterpreted the data. The report is that 29,000 fewer people than week lost their jobs, or you could think of it as 29,000 more people kept the jobs they had.
But to say 29,000 new jobs were created, and further that 29,000 people were hired into those new jobs is false. This weekly report only covers UI claims for people who lost their jobs (layoffs).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
