Monday, October 13, 2008

Dow Jones in Largest Point Gain in History

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged up by 936 points Monday, the largest gain in the history of the index. As far as percentage goes, the 11 percent upward move was the second-largest in the history of the Dow, and the largest since March, 1933.

Much of the positive move is credited to the Treasury Department giving out some details on the proposed "rescue plan." Of course the horrible performance of the Dow last week guaranteed there would be a significant rebound soon. Still, it was an impressive move by any standard of measure.

Another significant factor in the record-breaking upswing was early announcements that banks in Europe would start investing in troubled banks as well. The groundswell spread from there.

The Dow closed the session at 9387.61. Also enjoying he up day was the S&P500 Index, which swelled by 11.6 percent, ending the day up by 104 points.

The Nasdaq also moved up at similar levels, finishing the day up 195 point, or 11.8 percent.

While everyone was exuberant over the news, we do have to realize that the market is going to go up and down in large swings over the near term, and will have to get used to that as a temporary way of economic life.

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