Largely favorable economic news at home in the U. S. and elsewhere in Germany and China, helped equity markets to close on a positive note for the holiday shortened week that ended on January 20th. Equities were up this past week. The Dow gained 2.4 percent, the Nasdaq up 2.8 percent, and the S&P 500 [...]

Equity markets responded more to forward momentum of the U. S. economy than renewed euro zone debt crisis this past week. Equities were up for the week. The Dow was up 0.5%, the Nasdaq up 4.1%, and the S&P 500 up 0.9%. The 10-year Treasury yield declined 9 basis points to 1.87% for the week [...]

Markets paused on Wednesday after recent gains as news of German Economy slumping in the fourth- quarter renewed concerns over weakening economy in Europe. Equities finished the day roughly flat. Snapping out of a two-day winning streak, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 13.02 points or 0.1% to 12449.45. Leading laggards for the blue chip [...]

Year 2012 kicked off with mostly encouraging economic reports indicating that recovery is gaining traction. Equities were up this past week. The Dow was up 1.2% at 12360; the Nasdaq Composite up 2.7% at 2674; and S&P 500 up 1.6^ at 1278 for the week that ended on January 6th, 2012. The 10-year Treasury note [...]