On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 19,000 for the first time.
From USA Today:
Get out the Dow 19,000 rally caps. The Dow Jones industrial average, arguably the world's best-known stock market gauge, closed above the 19,000 barrier Tuesday for the first time in its 120-year history.
For the second straight day, all four major U.S. stock indexes touched new record-high territory. The Dow jumped 67.18 points, or 0.4%, to close at a record high of 19,023.87.
In a day of milestones, the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 stock index closed above 2200 for the first time ever as it rose 4.76 points, or 0.2%, to 2202.94. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%, to an all-time closing high of 5386.35 and the Russell 2000 gained 0.9% to 1334.34, its thirteenth straight session of gains -- its longest winning streak in 20 years.
The assault on Dow 19,000 has taken nearly two years, or 700 calendar days, since it took out the 18,000 barrier back on Dec. 23, 2014. It was the slowest climb from one 1,000-point milestone to the next since taking nearly six years to climb from 14,000 in July 2007 to 15,000 in May 2013. (That long drought, of course, coincided with the Great Recession and the worst stock market decline since the Great Depression.)
Read more......
After 8 years of the Fed keeping interest rates near Zero to keep the economy from collapsing, Trump has been elected for 2 weeks and all three major stock indexes have set new record highs, and over $2 Trillion has been bet that interest rates will rise and inflation return in response to a booming economy.
Meanwhile the media is still criticizing Trump but the investors who bet their own money are sending us a different picture.
On the night leading up to the November election results, a multitude of pundits were predicting a 800+ point drop in the market. The next day, the market resoundingly recovered (haha, if you can call it that) and meted out several hundred point increases subsequently - across nearly all sectors.
Today, we see the market (forecasting 6-12 months into the future) reaching all time highs on the expectations of business profitability combined with a strong US dollar (decimating other currencies).
If the repatriation of dollars to the US also occurs, this will be an engine that the US economy has long been waiting for - Americans working, jobs in abundance and the a bright American future to guide other countries away from "giving" into an "earning" future.
I am really more of a hobbyist than a trader, but this is quite exciting nonetheless. I fully expected the markets to rally, but even I am floored we cracked 19,000 with pure insanity levels of heavy trading. This is due to numerous factors, most notably Trump's likely embrace of business and investment banking friendly policies being the central point fueling the surge.
Also of note are stocks like US Steel, Caterpillar, etc. which are surging I suspect due to Trumps infrastructure proposals.
This is likely a harbinger of economic growth to come, and for most Americans it can not come fast enough. Interestingly, the New York Times predicted a colossal panic in the days following a Trump victory. Also, their much touted "economist" Krugman predicted an "immediate global recession with no end in sight"----so much for "all the news that is fit to print".
Since 2008, the country has seen millions more go into poverty, real dollar median annual income decline 1.5% , close to double the national debt, record number of quarters where gnp is under 2% (avg rate of recoveries is 4.3%), lowest participation rate in 40 yrs, job creation that does not meet the increase in working age population, decline in new business startups, spike of Americans on food stamps, home ownership rate lowest in 5 decades.
To summarize, despite the Obama administration desperately trying to paint a rosy picture of his economic record, the truth is, it has been an unmitigated disaster. You can try to put lipstick on this pig, but the numbers don't change the fact is, it is still a pig.
Here's to new beginnings, and prosperity for all.
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