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The stock market rested Thursday after staging its biggest rally in two-and-a-half years the previous session. Major indexes ended trading mixed.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 25.65 points, or 0.21 percent, to 12,020.03 The S&P 500 ended 2.38 lower, or 0.19 percent, to 1,244.58. The Nasdaq finished up 5.86, or 0.22 percent, to 2,626.20.
After the Wednesday jump stocks were up more than 7 percent for the week. The Dow rocketed 490 points that day, its seventh-best gain ever, after central banks around the world slashed the cost of borrowing dollars for European banks. The coordinated action was aimed at shoring up European banks and averting a deeper credit crisis.
Another rise in weekly jobless benefits seemed to weigh on investors. The Labor Department said initial applications rose to 402,000 last week, the second weekly increase in a row. November's labor report comes out Friday. Economists forecast the unemployment rate will remain at 9 percent.
A stronger manufacturing report didn’t help the market much. The Institute for Supply Management said that manufacturing grew last month at the fastest pace since June.
Investors often turn cautious following giant leaps, said Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ. The Dow shot up 813 points in the first three days of the week as fears ebbed that Europe's debt crisis would turn into a global panic. The market also pushed higher after a record number of shoppers went to stores over the Thanksgiving weekend.
"It's almost like rooting for a football team that won by a very big score," Stovall said. The next day, people are likely wondering whether the big victory was a one-off event or the start of a lasting trend.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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These wild swings seem kinda reminiscent of a couple years past,,, Everybody on CNBC is predicting the Euro is going to fail, and take some of our banks down,,, The central banks don't make a move like they did, without it being a Crisis point,,,
It only went up yesterday because the Fed printed a lot of money. The economy isn't fixed, no stocks truely performed yesterday. Money was just a made a little more worthless, stocks became more valuable. Today they didn't print money out of thin air so the stocks didn't move.
So how many trillions did it cost the crackhead bankers to get their one day rush. Where's Dr Drew when you need him?
Today, Traders got sidetracked daydreaming about the Christmas bonuses they made yesterday. Too bad our IRAs aren't performing like a WS bonus does...
What we need is another Black Friday. For the next 52 weeks!
Problem is, the average Amercan hasn't a clue relative to finance or anything related. They base their economic foundation on the price of gas at the pump or some POS recently purchased at Wal-Mart.
What Wall Street has no grasp of is the mortal wound they've inflicted on their customer base: the middle class.
Investment driven businesses have offshored, outsourced, and automated jobs out of this country to maximize short-term profit- at the cost of long-term viability.
Here's your reality check, in the simplest possible terms.
If the dollar has less than half the value it enjoyed before the meltdown (as the price of gold would seem to indicate), then the DJIA, after recovering to values near what it once had, should be near 30,000.
It was down around 6,000 after the meltdown- and has held most of that value ever since, while the dollar lost it.
Of course the Dow has appeared to rise. The yardstick by which we measure it's height is now less than half as long.
Empty storefronts and desperate people across the country tell the real tale: until customers are re-created (read- "returning local jobs paying well enough to provide a surplus income"), there will be no American recovery.
Being just a lower end citizen, I have no clue to Wednesday big rally. But I am keen observer and want to comment. While Hongkong's thriving economy, in number one income producing is TOURISM which they put all efforts to boost. That is speedy increase in dollar, U.S. must boost. Secondly, certain important incentives must be given, financed, and monitored in increase of quality manufactured products at lesser costs to boost exports. Third, decrease outsourcing and keep jobs in the country. Make some cheap good quality cars instead of importing. Less imports and more exports. These 3 areas if boosted will not only lower unemployment but will increase dollar value and surplus income. This job belongs to the executive to promote for economic recovery. Less talk and more deeds.
Folks another bumpy ride is looming in US, my suggestion is be prepared with water and food, we are heading for another economic depression.
Thanks to the government bailout of all these large Companies and Bank Institutions.
This pressent administration will not create any new jobs or manufacturing goods in US as they said if they really want to do something about it they already do, and so far nothing, why they keep with the same false promise !!!.
Just to get to the point, US Manufactured can't engage business overseas cause the value of the dollar for the last past 25 years we haven't make any manufacture profit, you see if another Country wants to buy any American made goods it will cost for them tree times of what we spend in one time, why do you think all the US factories went out ???.
And the tourism is a dream for many of them it can't afford any more as they did before 1980, wake up folks we are living in an mirage.