A Strong Week for the Stock Market
Mar 8, 2010
Posted by Jody Eisenman | Filed under Uncategorized
Led by several bellwether stocks such as Goldman Sachs and Apple Computer, the equity markets completed a solid week. The S and P 500 has now risen for six straight days, and wound up over three per cent for the week. We are now at the highest levels since January 19, and we are just below the October 2008 levels.
What has fueled this rally has been a steady unemployment rate of 9.7%. This number was expected to rise seasonally due to the weather, so the unchanged figure was viewed as another sign that the economy is recovering. In addition, the situation in Greece seems to be improving from the brink of disaster, as they were able to raise $6.8 billion in a bond offering last week. They also had $4.8 billion in budget cuts. Of course, the Greek unions opposed this move, and strikes reigned throughout the country.
The market looks incredibly strong here. It is rising in the face of a high unemployment rate and a very low consumer confidence figure. As I have stated previously, it is almost as if the financial crisis of 2008 and early 2009 never happened. Can this continue? Even supposed experts are divided on this. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Diviners-Divided-Economists-apf-2346209182.html?x=0&.v=1
As always, things should be interesting in the coming weeks.
