Dow Industrials rally and close back above 13,000. S&P 500 caps best week since June.

[Rey C.]

Bloomberg Financial - Nov 23, 2012 2:18 PM ET:

U.S. stocks climbed, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its biggest weekly rally since June, after data showed German business confidence unexpectedly expanded and the American holiday shopping season began.

The S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent to 1,409.15 at 1 p.m. New York time, for its biggest gain on the day after Thanksgiving since 2007. The index rose 3.6 percent this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 172.79 points, or 1.4 percent, to 13,009.68. The U.S. stock market was shut yesterday and closed at 1 p.m. New York time today. Trading in S&P 500 companies was 25 percent below the 30-day average at this time of day.

The S&P 500 rallied for a fifth day in the longest streak since August after housing data exceeded economists’ forecasts and President Barack Obama expressed confidence on a budget agreement with Congress. Obama met with senior Democrats and Republicans on Nov. 16 for talks to avoid $607 billion of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that, if allowed to come into force, might push the country into a recession next year. Congress is in recess for Thanksgiving until Nov. 26.

For those of us who cheer for the home team (and put our money where our mouths are), it was a damn good week! :nanner: And for the Chicken Little types, whiners, crybabies and Debbie Downers...

 

[zeeblofowl_1969]

Rich guy gambling.......

 

[Rey C.]

Not at all, Zeeblofowl. If a person wants to get into day trading, market timing, futures or options, then yeah, that's more of a gamble. But since 401Ks are really all most non-government, non-union employees have these days (pensions have gone the way of the dinosaur and Social Security for people our age is more of a fantasy), understanding at least the basics of the equity markets is pretty much a necessity. Most people probably don't need to be in individual stocks. But even if they choose mutual funds or ETFs, they really have to have a handle on what they are, what the terms mean, what equity vs. debt mixture one should have at a given age in a given plan, how much is just enough to get a company match, etc. So many people took deep cuts during the last recession because they had too much invested in their company's stock at advanced ages (at 50+, having 75% of your money in your employer's stock is crazy), sold just as the market hit the bottom, cashed in their 401Ks and got penalized and taxed to death because they feared that the money markets would eat their remaining funds, had taken out loans against their 401Ks then lost their jobs and couldn't pay the money back, etc. You read a lot of sad horror stories. Some of them could have been avoided if people understood their investments better.

When things went totally shitty in late 2008/early 2009, a girl in her mid 20's, where I used to work, asked me what I was going to do with my 401K as the market was tanking. I told her that I was putting every spare cent that I could into S&P 500 mutual funds. Picking the bottom on individual stock was too hard back then - though by May/June, I was doing that again too with my private accounts. The way I saw it, even if I had to wait 5+ years, I could load up on mutual fund and equity shares on the way down and ride out the storm... and then dollar cost average my way to some really nice future returns. She was a nice kid. But she took the advice of her parents, who told her that with Obama as President, all the companies in America would shut down and leave the U.S. I asked her where they would go? She said her parents weren't sure, but they were all going to leave this socialist country... maybe move to China. I pointed out to her that China was a communist country. That just caused confusion. I left shortly thereafter, but as far as I know, she cashed in, paid the 10% penalty and the 20%(?) withholding tax and got raped. She seemed nice enough. But her parents were clearly ignorant wingnuts, who contributed to their daughter taking a vicious beating. Within 6 months, the market had hit rock bottom and it's pretty much been up, up & anyway ever since. No matter who is President or who the Speaker of the House is, I just believe in the future of this great republic. No other country would have me, so yeah, I'm sticking with the "home team" and I tend to believe what Baron Rothschild said: "The time to buy is when there's blood in the streets."


BTW, I made this post in response to the three or four whiners here, who are constantly posting negative crap about our great nation on a daily basis... Debbie Downers and crybabies, who (in their hearts) are not lovers of this republic. Things are never all good... but they're never all bad either. :hatsoff:

 

[bobjustbob]

My k is my money and I want to get the most out of it. It's spread out among various risk funds and my company stock. I max my matching and separate where their money goes from mine. I monitor my k and make shifts. Unlike market investing it doesn't cost me anything to do it. Twice over the past several years I took a loan out on my k when I saw things turning down. I used that money to get what I wanted and paid back the interest over time TO MYSELF. If I left my money in it would have sank and I would have waited for it to get back to even. Instead I slowly put it back in as it fell and made my last payments as the market recovered. Both times I came out ahead on the deal. People at all levels need to be involved in their k. You can do the same shit as the big shots without paying broker fees.