The market had a strong start Monday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 145.77 points or 1.4% to a 4 month high, and the middle of the week was directionless for the broader markets, until Friday.  Friday the market finally woke up again with some good economic news and closed in triple digits following a better than expected durable goods number.  While the “street” is still cautious, the Dow Jones industrial Average was able to add 197.84 points of 1.9% Friday for a weekly gain of 2.4%.  All thirty of the Dow stocks rose with Caterpillar gaining 4.6% and Alcoa rising 3.9%.  The Dow Jones has gained 8.4% month to date with one of the best September showings historically. The NASDAQ Composite Index was also strong gaining 2.3% and closing Friday at 2381.22 with strong showings from Apple and Amazon.com.  Traders are also encouraged by the fact that the S&P 500 Index closed over …

Early in the week, The Bank of Japan surprised the markets and sold more than $23B yen, driving down the price from a 15-year high.  The last time such action was taken was more than 6 years ago.  There are renewed concerns with European sovereign debt and Ireland is thought to be in the queue to request EU and IMF support.

The Senate approved a bill to cut $12B in small business taxes and created a $30B lending program, which now moves to the House for a vote.  Both gasoline and food drove consumer prices up for the month of August.  In a widely anticipated move, Ms. Elizabeth Warren was appointed as a special assistant to the president in charge of the Consumer …

The markets were a bit depressed this shortened holiday week with Wednesday being the most active day in terms of news.  After being closed Monday for the holiday, the markets reopened with renewed nervousness about the U.S. economy.  European debt concerns also reared their ugly head Tuesday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 107.24 points or 1% on thin volume. This broke a 4-day rally which had added 4.4% to the Dow. Global concerns caused the Euro to drop sharply Tuesday. 

Financials strengthened Wednesday to help the DJIA gain back 45.32 points.  It was a rocky day, however, with the markets experiencing a strong start which fizzled after the speech by President Obama on the economy where he stated that the economic recovery was “painfully slow.”  The Federal Reserve Beige Book report was also a damper on the markets.  While it showed some signs of moderate economic growth across the 12 districts the general tone was …

The last week of Wall Street/summer vacation brought light volume and one of the best weeks in recent memory.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average started the week in the red with news out of Japan that Bank of Japan’s efforts to put a lid on the yen rally failed and that the Bank of Japan was running out of options to change currency trends. The market fell 140.92 points to end just over the magic 10,000 mark.  A drop in August of over 4%, representing on of the worst month’s since May.   Economic worries persisted hurting the small cap Russell 2000 index which fell to its worst August in 12 years or off 7.5% for the month.  Technology stocks – another economic indicator, struggled through August with the Philadelphia Stock Exchanges Semiconductor Index losing 11.8 for the month.  Crude oil – another economic barometer …