Dow finishes with best month in 6 years

[jefferson_dem]

Dow finishes with best month in 6 years
by Chris in Paris on 3/31/2009 05:25:00 PM

Not to get ahead of the game here, and I would be the last to suggest a real rebound is upon us, but this is still positive news. More declines are ahead and more banking problems remain and more unemployment troubles are around the corner, but it's still okay to step back and recognize a decent month.

For the first time in 17 months, the bulls have credible ammunition for stocks: There are tentative signs of stabilization in the U.S. economy and banking system. The bulls face their own stress test in April, however, as results of the Treasury Department's banking review or corporate first- quarter profit reports could wipe out recent gains.

The Dow was recently up 84 points, or 1.1%, at 7606. The Dow is up about 8% for the month to date, its best gain since October 2002, which turned out to be the bottom of the last bear market.

Helping the Dow, which was down 254 points Monday, was a gain for all of the blue-chip measure's financial companies. Also, shares of Microsoft were up 5.4% to $18.43 after an analyst upgrade citing improving personal computer demand in the U.S. and China. Shares of PC maker Hewlett-Packard Co., another Dow component, rose 0.5% to $32.28.
Again, it may require nerves of steel and deep pockets to invest in this market, but this is still good news.

http://www.americablog.com/2009/03/dow-finishes-with-best-month-in-6-years.html

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. And one of the most volatile months in 20 years n/t

[rufus dog]

2. Let's hope we can get a second month.

The qtr was still down continuing the streak of down quarters, hopefully the month of March will be the turning point.

[taxjustice51]

3. Dow

mmmmmmmm, not so fast here.
The fundamentals are still weak.
Until we move from obscene consumption to actually producing something, we will remain in the soup.

[brentspeak]

4. Which does absolutely nothing for the economy of most citizens

The Dow ≠ an economy's health. Heck, the Dow &ne the health of one's own personal investments.

[TexasObserver]

5. I felt we hit bottom around 6600 on the DOW.

We could take another dive and get below that, but I think it's at least 50-50 we have hit the bottom.

[Aloha Spirit]

6. unemployment report on Friday.. should be interesting. nt