Market In A Confirmed Uptrend

Published March 12, 2012
William RutherfordFor the week ending March 2, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 advanced 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, but the Dow retreated a fraction. Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have climbed in eight of the year’s first nine weeks; the Dow has risen six of the first nine.

For the year through March 2, the Dow is up 6.8 percent, the S&P is up 9.3 percent and the Nasdaq is up 14.2 percent. The market continues to be “in a confirmed uptrend,” according to Investor’s Business Daily.

The Dow crossed the 13,000 milestone, the ninth time it has done so since 2007. Along the way the index has sunk below and bounced above 12,000, 11,000, 10,000, 9,000, 8,000 and 7,000 more than 300 times. So it is not hard to see why a number contains no magic.

The Dow remains more than 1,000 points below its record high of 14,164.53, set in October 2007. The S&P remains 15 percent below its record close of 1,565.15, set the same month. U.S. gross domestic product grew 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011. The GDP is the broadest measure of all goods and services produced in the economy. This was up slightly from estimated growth of 2.8 percent. Economists surveyed by the Dow Jones Newswire had expected 2.7 percent.

The latest report also included positive revision for household income in the last half of 2011, a potentially positive sign of stronger consumer spending to follow. Americans started spending more freely as the unemployment rate began to edge down. Personal expenditure rose 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter, more than anticipated.

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