DOW BREAKS 7,000 MARK : RALLY BOLSTERS CONFIDENCE IN ECONOMY, EXTENDS LONGEST U.S. BULL MARKET.Byline: Peter G. Gosselin The Boston Globe The stock market jumped to record highs Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average Dow Jones Industrial Average The best known U.S. index of stocks. A price-weighted average of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks, primarily industrials including stocks that trade on the New York Stock Exchange. crossing 7,000 for the first time, as investors renewed their bet the U.S. economy can continue producing record profits and still higher stock prices without stumbling. The 30-stock industrial average shot past its latest millennial mark less than four months after topping 6,000, closing up 60.81 for the day at 7022.44. It marked the quickest 1,000-point gain ever. The move from 5,000 to 6,000 took 11 months. The increase extends the longest bull market in American history. Since October 1990, the market, as measured by the Dow, has nearly tripled in value in an almost unvarying upward trend. Even normally optimistic op·ti·mist n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op market watchers seem a little agog at stocks' recent performance. ``The question you've got to ask yourself is: How much longer? But we've been asking that for the last two years and nothing's changed'' the market's climb, said Carmine carmine /car·mine/ (kahr´min) a red coloring matter used as a histologic stain. indigo carmine indigotindisulfonate sodium. car·mine n. J. Grigoli, chief investment strategist for Nomura Securities International in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . In driving up prices, investors shook off a series of niggling doubts that have troubled the market in recent weeks. High, but not as high as expected, profits by some technology companies and reports that market favorites like Mercury Finance Co., the Chicago auto-lending firm, may have cooked their books, had some people wondering whether stocks' long run might be nearly over. But such worries appear to have been swept aside by two overarching facts: the economy's continued strong performance and a seemingly endless flow of money into stock mutual funds. ``The market has tremendous internal momentum,'' said Byron Wein, chief equities strategist for Morgan Stanley  To comply with Wikipedia's , the introduction of this article needs a complete rewrite. & Co. Wein said news of an additional $24 billion pouring into stock funds in January, the fourth largest monthly inflow on record, together with recent interest rate declines, which encourage investors to move money from bonds to stocks, all but assure the market will continue rising for some time. ``This is not a bubble. This is not irrational exuberance Irrational Exuberance An infamous phrase uttered by Alan Greenspan in 1996 to describe the overvalued market at the time. Notes: Although every word spoken by Mr. . This reflects a super-performing U.S. economy,'' said Allen Sinai, chief global economist and chief executive of Primark Decision Economic. ``This is the best business expansion I have ever seen.'' Suggestive of suggestive of Decision making adjective Referring to a pattern by LM or imaging, that the interpreter associates with a particular–usually malignant lesion. See Aunt Millie approach, Defensive medicine. how durable they think the current expansion is, some analysts said Thursday the only thing likely to stop it are broad trends such as the aging of the American work force, rather than the kind of short-term foul-ups of prices, supply and demand usually cited in explaining slowdowns. ``This could go on another five to seven years,'' said Grigoli. However, other analysts were not so optimistic, worrying that investors are becoming less interested in basics such as how much a company earns per share and more enamored en·am·or tr.v. en·am·ored, en·am·or·ing, en·am·ors To inspire with love; captivate: was enamored of the beautiful dancer; were enamored with the charming island. of how much its share price could jump. ``When the fundamental thing driving a market is the upward momentum of prices, you've got a serious problem,'' said Robert A. Brusca, chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the with Nikko Securities Co. International in New York. CAPTION(S): Chart Chart: (Color) THE DOW MINUTE-BY-MINUTE The New York Times |
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