dow up +146.01 (+1.79%) bit of a joke, page-27

The joke is that ppl stay glued to the DOW and only act on its result, virtually without question!

The DOW was up because a swag of anticipated results are going to be better than expected. It was also up as "investors" returned to buy up stocks that had been beaten down over the last few weeks - totally expected I might add, i.e. wasn't a matter of "if" but of "when".

I just hope the jobless figures (in the US) are finally laid to rest as a form of indicator of economic activity. For example, productivity has long been a measure of industrial progress, but it seems they/we cling to old measures too, i.e. increase productivity but assume that job market improves at the same time - surely opposing measures in the short term?

BTW, it would appear that "the markets" are not as skittish as the masses think, it may just be that this is an MO that has existed for centuries, i.e. beat down stocks until they are attractive, buy up stocks until no longer attractive, sell stocks while on highs, then start the cycle again - only these days we have program trading, hedge funds and shorters to help the cycle along. And of course, the DOW reflects the cycle, hence the ridiculous swings. LOL!