Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Market Glides Joyfully into the Weekend

We are living in interesting times — tumultuous, confusing, even violent — but why worry about any of that when you’re making money.

For the fourth week in a row, the Dow posted gains — the S&P 500 is on a three-week streak. On Friday, the Dow rose 267 points, or 2.31%, to 11,808.8. The S&P 500 was up 22.9 points, or 1.9%, to 1,238.3.

The Dow is now up 2% for the year after jumping 9.6% in the past four weeks, although the S&P 500 is still down 1.5% for the year.

Today, Travelers (TRV) rose 5.2% and American Express (AXP) was up 4.9% to lead the Dow ahead. McDonald’s (MCD) was up 3.2% after posting strong earnings.

Travelers had a very strong week, rising 12%, as the company said on Wednesday that� it plans to raise prices after taking heavy losses in the past year from a series of catastrophes.

Euro Zone leaders will meet in Brussels this weekend to hash out disagreements over how to establish a bailout fund for the region’s banks, and investors are optimistic. Of course, the momentum heading into the weekend could also set the market up for a bad fall in the event that leaders can’t find common ground.

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