Dow has best start to the year since 1999

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By FRANCESCA LEVY and MATTHEW CRAFT

NEW YORK (AP) - The Dow Jones industrial average closed its best start to the year since 1999 Thursday, rising 6.4 percent in the first three months. The index of 30 large companies gained 742 points in that stretch. Measured against other first quarters, that's the largest point gain since 1998 and the second best on record.

Stocks ended the day mixed as the price of oil jumped to a 30-month high. Slightly disappointing reports on unemployment claims and factory orders also weighed on the market.

The first-quarter gains were anything but an easy ride. Uprisings in the Arab world, a jump in oil prices along with the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan led to many deep one-day falls.

"This is a market that has been defined by resilience in the face of uncertainty," said Andrew Goldberg, a market strategist at JP Morgan Funds.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110331/D9MAF32G0.html

---

Trader Jonathan Niles encounters a Budweiser Clydesdale on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, that was part of opening bell ceremonies in observance of Major League Baseball's opening day, Thursday, March 31, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

[onehandle]

1. Obama is destroying corporations. See how they suffer. nt

[xchrom]

2. It is true - they are having a good year.

Now I wish the poor and middle class were doing so well.

[givemebackmycountry]

3. that's the largest point gain since 1998....

And who was in the White House in 1998?

Oh, I'm sorry I didn't hear you.
A Democrat?
Is that possible?

The Democratic Party is good for business and the economy.

Republicans are good for what?

[msongs]

5. lol the filthy rich are raking it in and getting plum jobs in the "democratic" administration nt

[AllTooEasy]

11. I've been raking it in too...and I'm in the working middle class

As soon as Obama took over, I moved all of my 401K to stocks. Let's just say that I'm $$$$$$OOOOO glad Bush is gone!

[stockholmer]

15. the only reason the Dow is up as it is- the massive QE programs the Fed is on, the moment they end

that (and they have to, due to inflationary modalities, currency debasement, and debt pressures), I truly hope your are out of there. I have been long gold and silver since 1999, when derivatives (true madness) were basically completely legalized under Rubin, Clinton, and Greenspan. I'm up a cumulative 350+% since then, the Dow is basically where it was 10 years ago, and this is in debased dollars. Adjusted for inflation, that 12,000 DJIA in 2011 is like 6500 in 1999.



the Wall Street insiders seem to agree with me, rather decidedly:


Insiders Sell $5.4 Billion, Buy $128 Million In Stock In Month Of February

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/insiders-sell-54-billion-buy-128-million-stock-month-february


Following the insider dump of well over $1.3 billion in shares a fortnight ago, this week insiders sold "just" $503 million in shares of their companies, in 118 transactions. Alas, while the selling to buying ratio was a modest 61.4x at last check, the ongoing collapse in insider buying has once again reared its ugly head, and only $4 million worth of stock was purchased. The biggest insider purchases in the past week focused on CB Richard Ellis, Lorillard and Noble, with all at a million or less. On to selling, which is relentless: the top selling names were Sara Lee ($122 million), Franklin Resources ($51 million), and Intuit ($37) million. As for full month February, forget about it.

Insiders sold a total of $5.4 billion and bought $128 million, a 41.6x ratio. In layman's terms: they can't wait to dump all they can, leading with Sensata insiders who sold $1.2 billion, followed by Microsoft selling $575 million and Molycorp $363 million.

[doc03]

16. +1 I've recovered all my 2009 losses and some. n/t

[No Elephants]

25. You made money as a member of the investing class not as a member of the working class.

I realize you're one person in both capacities, but the distinction is important.

[stockholmer]

14. don't forget the Dow & especially the NASDAQ imploded in 2000 under same Dem,both parties are shills

as a European, I used to take solace that the damage in terms of wars was at least less under Dems. Cannot even say that anymore.
:(

[PSPS]

4. The spin is enough to make you dizzy

It's easy to have a "stock market rally" when you've got these things:

1. Insider information
2. Front running
3. Program trading (thousands of trades a second.)
4. $13 trillion in taxpayer backstop Obama gave you to play with

This is a stock price bubble wholly unsupported by fundamentals.

[SoulSearcher]

10. You left out Flash-trading

Where you pay $ to "co-locate" your server electronically
RIGHT NEXT TO the trading server, and equip it with a
flash-trade program that makes money off everyone else downline,
BECAUSE THEY ARE DOWNLINE.
The big banks finding this say it help "liquidity".
But any kid (or peasant) will understand it as CHEATING.

Oh - pardon - it's "legal" - my bad.

[AllTooEasy]

12. So it was better under Bush?! That's SPIN!!!

[stockholmer]

18. I think you misread what the poster is saying, Bush, Obama doesnt matter, the game is rigged

[SoulSearcher]

6. Careful - The rules will change soon

CNBC reports Bernanke will hold the first ever press briefing April 27
following a monetary policy decision by the central bank.
In past that detail info was not released for 6 weeks.
Regardless of admin, you gotta realize our econ - our DOLLAR - is judged
by the world as value. You may have have 50K now, but what will it buy?
How much food/gas/etc? Will it last years or weeks?
That is the international scope of the above -not just what US thinks.
US dollar is value-judged globally due to the debt sales we make via TBills,
NOT votes. Not preaching doom, just that there is a new traffic light ahead.

[stockholmer]

7. too bad the dollar in now is worth almost half as it was in 1999. the Dow = suckers rally

Insiders Sell $5.4 Billion, Buy $128 Million In Stock In Month Of February

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/insiders-sell-54-billion-buy-128-million-stock-month-february

Following the insider dump of well over $1.3 billion in shares a fortnight ago, this week insiders sold "just" $503 million in shares of their companies, in 118 transactions. Alas, while the selling to buying ratio was a modest 61.4x at last check, the ongoing collapse in insider buying has once again reared its ugly head, and only $4 million worth of stock was purchased. The biggest insider purchases in the past week focused on CB Richard Ellis, Lorillard and Noble, with all at a million or less. On to selling, which is relentless: the top selling names were Sara Lee ($122 million), Franklin Resources ($51 million), and Intuit ($37) million. As for full month February, forget about it.

Insiders sold a total of $5.4 billion and bought $128 million, a 41.6x ratio. In layman's terms: they can't wait to dump all they can, leading with Sensata insiders who sold $1.2 billion, followed by Microsoft selling $575 million and Molycorp $363 million.

[SoulSearcher]

13. That is SCARY

[doc03]

17. Not true the dollar is not worth 1/2 of what it was in 1999.

$10000 in 1999 has the buying power of $13283.85 today not anwhere near $20000.

[stockholmer]

23. from its highs of 2001 to 2002 the US DX is down over 40%

I did compare the stock market year (1999) being discussed in error, I apologize :blush:

http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/US/M



http://futures.tradingcharts.com/historical/US/2001/0/continuous.html

http://futures.tradingcharts.com/historical/US/2002/0/continuous.html

Report: Pimco sells off US government-related holdings according to published reports
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Report-Pimco-sells-off-all-US-apf-976445778.html?x=0

NEW YORK (AP) -- The world's largest bond investor has sold off all his fund's U.S. government-related holdings, according to a published report.

The move by Bill Gross, founder of the Pacific Life Investment Management Co., was reported in The Wall Street Journal Wednesday. A Pimco representative did not return calls for comment.

The Pimco Total Return Fund, the world's largest mutual fund, held no government-related debt by the end of February, according to an unidentified person at Pimco quoted by the Journal. In January, U.S. government holdings had accounted for 12 percent of the fund.

Treasury prices nevertheless rose Wednesday after the government saw strong bidding at an auction of debt.

The Treasury sold $21 billion in 10-year notes at a yield of 3.49 percent. Investors placed bids worth 3.32 the amount up for sale, better than the 3.08 average over the last year. The strong demand comes even as Gross and other money managers have sold Treasurys in recent months.

Investors like Gross believe that bond values could drop once the Federal Reserve ends its $600 billion bond buying program in June. The Fed is expected to discuss the program, which was intended to spur economic recovery, at its next meeting.

Gross has also expressed other concerns about the bond market.

At a meeting of Pimco's investment committee in January, the assembled money managers agreed that nervous investors would likely ditch Treasurys en masse as the U.S. government gets closer to the debt ceiling.

"The Treasury market will sell off as this gets more press and with more invective," Gross said in an interview with The Associated Press soon after that meeting. "Investors like us, we sell now."

Bond investors are creditors. In buying a Treasury note, investors are lending the government money in exchange for a promise to return it later with interest. So bond investors closely follow the ability of the government to repay debt.

U.S. government bonds and the dollar underpin the global financial system. The Treasury yield is used as a benchmark for all borrowing, and is a point of comparison for debt around the world.

[ixion]

8. which proves that the Dow and the economy are NOT synonymous

because we're still in a depression, outside Wall St.

[girl gone mad]

9. Fed funded Ponzi scheme. n/t

[stockholmer]

20. +1000

[lib2DaBone]

19. Has anyone been to the grocery store lately and looked at the price of food?

How about the price of gas?

Hyper inflation is here.. along with great depression II.

[stockholmer]

21. well, not hyper inflation, but you're essentially correct,the actual real US rate is around 9% or so

hyper-inflation takes many factors in order to occur, including a near-complete loss of faith in the currency, as well as a massive increase in the velocity of money.

for the classic example of this see Wiemar Germany in 1923.

There are still old poor farmhouses in rural Germany that have massive chandelier or grand piano from the cities, that the 'rich' had to trade simply to feed their family for a week, as the money was worthless.


German Children Playing with Worthless Paper Reichsmarks


During the Weimar Germany hyperinflationary period (1922-1923) the Reichsmark lost value rapidly against the US Dollar. Review the information below for conversion rates as the hyperinflation progressed:

Timeline of Weimar Republic Hyper-Inflation (Reichsmarks per USD)


June 24, 1922: 272 Reichsmark (RM) to $1.00 US
July 1922: 670 RM
August 1922: 2,000 RM
October 1922: 45,000 RM
November 1922: 10,000 RM
December 30, 1922: 500,000 RM
February 1923: Reichsbank buys back RM (or reichsmark); stabilizes RM at 20,000 to 1 US dollar
May 4, 1923: RM 40,000
June 1, 1923: RM 70,000
June 30, 1923: RM 150,000
August 1-August 7, 1923: RM 3,500,000
August 15, 1923: RM 4,000,000
September 1, 1923: RM 10,000,000


Around September 10 to September 25, 1923: Prices reportedly rise hourly in several German cities.


September 30, 1923: RM 60,000,000 = 1 US Dollar


November 15, 1923: Rentenmark issued; pegged to the Gold Standard; Rentenmark 4.2 = 1 US dollar; at this time: Old Reichsmark 4,200,000,000 = 1 US dollar.
1 New Rentenmark = 1 Billion Old Reichsmark!
http://survivalus.blogspot.com/2010/12/during-weimar-germany-hyperinflationary.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/ess_germanhyperinflation.html

"The presses of the Reichsbank could not keep up though they ran through the night. Individual cities and states began to issue their own money. Dr. Havenstein, the president of the Reichsbank, did not get his new suit. A factory worker described payday, which was every day at 11:00 a.m.: "At 11:00 in the morning a siren sounded, and everybody gathered in the factory forecourt, where a five-ton lorry was drawn up loaded brimful with paper money. The chief cashier and his assistants climbed up on top. They read out names and just threw out bundles of notes. As soon as you had caught one you made a dash for the nearest shop and bought just anything that was going." Teachers, paid at 10:00 a.m., brought their money to the playground, where relatives took the bundles and hurried off with them. Banks closed at 11:00 a.m.; the harried clerks went on strike..................."

[GeorgeGist]

22. Yeah, Greed.

[No Elephants]

24. Thank heavens, investors are happy. Maybe they'll get to that creating jobs bit now.