Dow breaks above 21,000 as stocks hit all-time highs after Trump's speech

[SirLinksALot]

SOURCE: MSN

URL: http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/dow-breaks-above-21000-as-stocks-hit-all-time-highs-after-trumps-speech/ar-AAnF5m1?li=BBnbfcN

by Fred Imbert


U.S. equities kicked off Wednesday trading sharply higher, with the Dow Jones industrial average climbing above 21,000 for the first time, on the back of President Donald Trump's speech to Congress.

Trump's speech, which was delivered Tuesday night, was widely praised for its positive tone but lacked specifics about tax reform and deregulation, two key components of the market's postelection rally.

Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial, said the speech's tone "has gone a long way for the market" as it "assuaged fears that his agenda was not going to be able to be passed."

Dow futures soared more than 150 points ahead of the open, while S&P and Nasdaq futures advanced 18 and 34 points, respectively.

"While it's understandable that these things take time to plan and implement properly, markets have been way ahead of the game since Trump's victory and there comes a time when we need to know exactly what they're rallying on," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note.

Equities had closed lower on Tuesday, with the Dow snapping a 12-day winning streak.

Investors also payed close attention to key economic data, as the probability of the Federal Reserve raising rates surged.

Personal income rose 0.4 percent in January, topping expectations, while consumer spending slowed. However, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index jumped 1.9 percent in the 12 months through January, putting inflation very close to the Federal Reserve's target of 2 percent.

Construction spending and the ISM manufacturing data is out at 10 a.m., then the Fed's beige book will be released at 2 p.m.

Market expectations for a rate hike this month almost doubled to around 70 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

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[Frank Cannon]

I think the market is a fraud, but there is one thing I like about this jump higher......it is eating Obama alive inside to see this. He used this as an only metric for his economy being great all the time.

[SirLinksALot]

I think the market is a fraud, but there is one thing I like about this jump higher......it is eating Obama alive inside to see this. He used this as an only metric for his economy being great all the time.

Just a personal advise to those who own individual stocks and they have been going gang busters .... if you're happy with the gains you have and want to protect yourselves against any possible huge down sides (like what happened in the huge stocks run up during the internet bubble ), put a trailing stop to your stocks as a protective measure.

I learned my lesson in 2000 and put trailing stops to my stocks that gained in 2006.... that protected be from the eventual crash due to the mortgage crisis.

Unfortunately, you can't do that to the mutual funds that you own ( but you can if you own ETF's ).

[Frank Cannon]

....put a trailing stop to your stocks as a protective measure.

I thought you were going to go a different direction there...

[SirLinksALot]

Here is what concerns me now....

The Price-Earnings ratios are already at the levels they were just before the dot.com and high-tech bubbles burst.

It is looking more like like Alan Greenspan's irrational exuberance.

I’d feel differently - based on the fundamentals - if the present stock prices were not the artificially boosted levels they are due almost entirely to federal reserve stimulus, NOT economic performance.

I'd be glad to hear anybody's contrary opinion.

[thackney]

...put a trailing stop to your stocks as a protective measure....

Good advise

[mirraflake]

I think the market is a fraud,

My dad sold a home in the mid 70's  and the buyer gave him money + $5000 of local bank stock because he did not have enough money to buy the home with cash alone.

The bank was sold 3 times ( we made out each time because they gave us 2 for 1 ), stock split numerous times and high dividends.

When my dad died a few years ago my 2 siblings and myself received $60,000 each of that stock=$180,000= that was through the 1987 crash, the tech crash in 2000 and the crash in 2008

The stock market goes up and down just ride out the lows.

There are plenty of good mutual funds that give nice returns each year. The trick is to balance out your money.
If you do not invest in the stock market you will never have anything in life.

A friend of mine maxed out his 401K since 1991 at his factory job. he is going to retire in a 2 years and his 401Kis worth over  a million dollars

@Frank Cannon

[Frank Cannon]

My dad sold a home in the mid 70's  and the buyer gave him money + $5000 of local bank stock because he did not have enough money to buy the home with cash alone.

The bank was sold 3 times ( we made out each time because they gave us 2 for 1 ), stock split numerous times and high dividends.

When my dad died a few years ago my 2 siblings and myself received $60,000 each of that stock=$180,000= that was through the 1987 crash, the tech crash in 2000 and the crash in 2008

The stock market goes up and down just ride out the lows.

There are plenty of good mutual funds that give nice returns each year. The trick is to balance out your money.
If you do not invest in the stock market you will never have anything in life.

A friend of mine maxed out his 401K since 1991 at his factory job. he is going to retire in a 2 years and his 401Kis worth over  a million dollars

@Frank Cannon

This ain't the old days. Mom and pop are not in the markets. It's institutional investors acting on hubris with the free money they get from the banks. Beyond that a lot of these great stocks are up purely on speculation and not fundamentals. Hell, Tesla gives their yearly reports in Non-GAAP and GAAP. It's all a load of shit.