The stock indices all rose significantly today: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 5.8%, gaining 379 points to close at 6,926. The S&P 500 also rose 6.4% (ending above 719) and the Nasdaq jumped 7.1%. Bloomberg News reported, "Stocks around the world staged the biggest rally of the year after Citigroup Inc. said it was having its best quarter since 2007, spurring speculation the worst of the banking crisis is over." The NY Times adds the enthusiasm was also spurred by "calls for regulatory reforms from the Federal Reserve chairman, and the possibility that the government would reinstate rules governing short sales of stocks."
According to the Wall Street Journal, "More than nine in every ten stocks on the New York Stock Exchange climbed. All 30 Dow components rose. General Electric climbed 20%, undoing some of the damage from a rout that has pushed its shares down by more than 45% this year. Alcoa and General Motors rose 13% each. Both have declined more than 40% so far in 2009 even after Tuesday's surge." One fund manager was bullish to Bloomberg News: "If we’re not at a bottom, we’re a pretty close. It’s time to start putting money into stocks. Stocks are cheap and worldwide stimulus will eventually help lift earnings.”
