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.
Stocks closed slightly lower Monday despite the death of Osama bin Laden, several strong earnings reports and a major drug industry acquisition. The Dow fell 3.18 points to close at 12,807.36. Earlier in the day, it had been up as much as 65 points.
U.S. equities have piled on way-above-average returns in the last five months. But what can investors expect over the next few years? The charts show some patterns, and they hint that returns could revert to a longer-term, lower average -- but what might that be?
U.S. companies added $26.5 billion to dividend payments in 2010 -- a far cry from 2009's $42.4 billion decline -- and analysts predict an even better year for dividends in 2011, a windfall to investors that could lift equity markets higher.
The big winners of 2010 scored returns far above those of U.S. markets by piggybacking on China's ferocious growth. But rebounding American equities look mighty impressive next to the year's real losers: the victims of the eurozone debt crisis.
Companies have record amounts of cash to spend: $1.9 trillion. How can they put it to the best use to keep stock markets booming?
With analysts expecting the stock market to rally, investors are feeling bullish. But are they too bullish? High investor confidence has often signaled a market turn for the worse in the past. Other indicators also show cause for caution.
If the extension of the Bush tax cuts triggers a market rally, as many expect, investors will likely rush in. But caution is advised: High prices can also mean high risk. Here are some tips from Alan Lancz, director of research at LanczGlobal.com, on how investors can avoid getting burned.
As 2010 draws to a close, it looks like 2011 is likely to be another wild year for the stock market. Fear not: Here are some tips from T. Rowe Price portfolio managers on how careful investors can take advantage of drops and rebounds in the coming year.
In his new book, Trading Realities, tech-executive-turned-personal-investor Jeff Augen offers a refreshingly realistic account of how markets function in a sensible look at the forces that shape today's chaotic investment landscape.
The May 6 "flash crash" is still somewhat of an enigma, but an advisory panel meeting on Friday to review a report into it could at least help regulators establish some new market rules to prevent similar crashes from occurring in the future, Reuters reports.
Traders will no longer be able to make direct trades without broker supervision. As part of a series of changes after May's "flash crash," the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission decided Wednesday to bar traders from having "naked" access to stock markets.
China surprised international markets Tuesday by raising key interest rates for the first time in three years. The move sparked a worldwide sell-off on worries that it could cause the Chinese economy to slow down.
Should it matter to U.S. investors that Middle East stock markets are among the worst-performers this year, with many trading at or near 52-week lows? Hard to know for sure, but here's why this is a development that bears watching.
