Yesterday the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) roared back up 379.44 points to close at 6,926.49, up 5.8% on the day. This raised the Dow to close to its February close, just above 7,000.
The good news in perspective shows how far the market has yet to recover. It was still down over 2,000 points on the calendar year 2009, which it began over 9,000. For the full twelve month proceeding period, it is far off the 13,000+ value it held back in May 2008. It is estimated by Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone Group LP that 40-45% of the world’s wealth has been destroyed by the downturn.
Yet for Wall Street and for those dependent on their portfolio, 10 March 2009 was a welcome relief.
The market cited the reason for the significant uptick was surprising news from Citibank, which internally shared a memo it had made a profit in the first two months of 2009. That message leaked to the market, and there was a definite bounce.
Other good news included Rep. Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, saying that the “uptick” rule, which curbs short selling, may be reimposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. While in prior days many free market philosophies would have seen this as government interference, in today’s market active involvement of watchdogs is seen as a healthy thing for all parties.
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