Fed to Keep Rates Low

S&P 500 Approaches Record on Signs Fed to Keep Rates Low - from Bloomberg

from this we might expect our own index to also rise above recent highs..... hmm - not good for my shorts on the retailers.......perhaps I should increase my holdings in long stocks.... gk.

U.S. stocks are closing in on record highs, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rebounding at the fastest pace since February, as concerns over global crises give way to optimism that central banks will continue to accommodate a recovering economy.
More than $710 billion has been restored to American equities in the past month and the S&P 500 is within 0.3 percent of an all-time high amid bets that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates near zero for longer even as economic growth shows signs of accelerating. The U.S. equity benchmark added 0.5 percent to 1,981.60 at 4 p.m. in New York today.
Stocks rallied today as retailers led gains on better-than-projected earnings while data showed inflation pressures remain limited and housing starts jumped. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.4 percent, its fifth straight day of increases, to the highest level since 2000. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 80.85 points, or 0.5 percent, to 16,919.59, still 219 points from its record. Apple (AAPL) Inc. jumped 1.4 percent to close at an all-time high.
“The market has come back strong this week in a repeat of what we’ve seen throughout the bull run, the ability to motor through geopolitical events,” Tim Rudderow, president and chief investment officer at Newtown, Pennsylvania-based Mount Lucas Management Corp., said via phone. He helps oversee $1.5 billion. “Today’s numbers were solid but not spectacular, and that’s perfect in an environment where really robust economic growth would not be positive.”

The S&P 500 has rebounded 3.8 percent since a three-month low on Aug. 7, the best eight-day return since the period ended Feb. 18. The gauge tumbled as much as 3.9 percent from its all-time high on July 24 amid growing concern over global conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza and Iraq.