The stock market was dealing with disappointing results from Microsoft, Amazon.com and American Express Friday morning, but clearly the bulls are in control.
Heading into Friday's session:
The Dow was up 38.5% in less than five months, the biggest percentage gain in such a short period since 1975, The WSJ reports, citing Ned Davis Research.
The Nasdaq was up 12 consecutive days, something it never did even during the heyday of the 1990s tech boom.
The S&P was up nearly 50% from its March lows and, more importantly, had clearly broken out of the 875-950 trading range that'd been in place since early May.
Clearly the skeptics, myself very much included, have been proven wrong by the market's stellar performance, which becomes self-reinforcing: The higher the market goes, the more money managers who've been on the sidelines are forced to chase the rally and cover shorts. "Performance anxiety" is a powerful motivator on Wall Street and there was some talk Thursday about "capitulation" by short-sellers as the S&P broke decidedly above previous resistance at 950.
At this point, all the previously wild-sounding year-end forecasts - S&P 1200, Dow 10,000 or 12,000 - look very much in play. :0corn
u see want apple is doing :shrug:
