A burst of hiring in February pushed stocks higher on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 67.58 points, or 0.5 percent, to 14,397.07, surpassing its previous record close Tuesday and logged a sixth straight increase Friday.
Stock markets traded cautiously on Wednesday ahead of a U.S. vote on raising the nation's borrowing limit temporarily. The House is set to vote on a motion to increase the nation's $16.4 trillion borrowing ceiling for three months.
The new year rally in global markets showed few signs of abating Monday ahead of a speech on monetary policy from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. A number of stock indexes around the world have hit multi-year highs as a key measure of volatility, the so-called VIX index, has fallen to a five-year low.
The S&P 500 closed at 1,466 Friday, the highest since Dec. 31, 2007, before the financial crisis. That's a gain of seven points on the day.
Hopes that President Barack Obama and U.S. lawmakers will be able to avoid a budget crisis helped world stock markets recover from earlier losses on Wednesday. European stock indexes, which were trading lower all day, closed higher, and the Dow and S&P rose.
Chevron shares dropped 4.2 percent to $112.45 after it said third-quarter profits would be "substantially lower" than the previous quarter, while Alcoa fell 4.6 percent to $8.71 after it posted a quarterly loss. The company cut its outlook for global aluminum demand, citing a slowdown in China.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 15 points to close at 13,307. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up nearly six at 1,438. The Nasdaq composite rose less than point at 3,136.
The last time the stock market was this high, the Great Recession was turning a month old, and stocks were pointed toward a headlong descent. But on Thursday, the market moved swiftly in the other direction.
There was more than one story line playing out in the stock market Wednesday. By the time it was all over, all the key indexes were down, their third straight day of losses.
It's axiomatic among financial-service professionals that most do-it-yourself investors are their own worst enemies, always in the grip of some cognitive bias. But might the professionals be too pessimistic?
The Online 401(k) team is back from their cross-country documentary trip to investigate our nation's soured financial dreams. And whatever else Americans are running low on, there's no shortage of pessimism about our retirement prospects.
The stock market suffered its worst day of the year Friday after a surprisingly weak report about hiring and employment cast a pall of gloom over the U.S. economy.
With all the stock-market turmoil, investors may find it hard to stay focused. But Rimmy Malhotra, GoalMine's chief investment officer, says its as important as ever for investors to stay the course. He offers three tips for goal-oriented investing.
While the overall stock market has plunged, IBM has remained flat. What's its secret to stability? We take a look under the hood to figure out what makes it a safe-haven stock -- and what elements investors should look for as they seek out others.
