Wall Street Posts Election-Day Rally, Dow Jumps 133

JOLLY SEA OF GREEN
Wall Street zoomed higher Tuesday in a broad-based advance as Americans headed to the polls to elect the next president. Trading desks across the world were fixated on the American presidential election, the results of which are likely to play a big role in shaping the world's leading economy in years to come. Last-minute polling showed President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney locked in a very tight race. 
 

A significant concern among market participants was also the uncertainty that could be caused by the election dragging out over several days or weeks.

The Dow blazed a trail higher right out of the gate today, topping out at 13,290.75 around midday before closing with a triple digits gain of 133.24 points or +1.02% at 13245.68.  The bullish momentum waned just slightly in the final hour of trading, though, with the blue-chip barometer paring its lead. Today marks just the second close north of 13,200 since Oct. 22 for the Dow.

ANALYSTS' QUOTES:

"Although volume has been relatively light, we enjoyed a pretty nice Election Day rally." 

 "This reminds me of four years ago, when we also had a strong, positive move on Election Day. Overall, we're seeing a lot of strength from crude oil, gold, and other commodities, especially as the dollar displayed quite a bit of weakness."

“Hope springs eternal on Wall Street that we won’t fall apart. There is enough of a belief that the economy is going to expand, maybe not strongly, but still expand, in 2013.”

“For the past few months we’ve been saying that the market would rally in November and December, regardless of who wins. It looks like the economy is improving and the Federal Reserve is still pumping money into the system."

GOODLUCK OBAMA

6 Weeks of Green: DJIA Quietly Creep Higher 18 August 2012

Bluechips, SPX 500 gain for 6th straight week

Nasdaq turns in 5th week of gains

If the markets rally for a sixth consecutive week, but no one is there to witness it, does it still count?That question will be left up to investors next week after Wall Street wrapped up its longest win streak since January 2011 following a very quiet Friday that saw the major indexes barely budge.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25.09 points, or 0.19%, to 13275.20, the S&P 500 gained 2.65 points, or 0.19%, to 1418.16 and the Nasdaq Composite added 14.20 points, or 0.46%, to 3076.59.

Despite the lack of market participation, the S&P 500 landed at fresh four-month highs and is less than one point away from notching a new four-year closing high. There were few economic reports to back the move higher, though new data did reveal consumer sentiment in August unexpectedly climbed to the highest level since May.

Underscoring the relative quiet that has descended upon Wall Street, the VIX volatility index retreated another 5.7% on Friday to tumble as low as 13.30 -- its lowest level since June 2007.

WALL STREET ANALYSTS QUOTES

 “What matters is that we’re close to four-and-a half year highs. There is a higher drift. It’s good for people who have equity positions because those who are underweight are going to be forced to catch up.”

“Economic indicators are not really having an effect. As long as the news is not terrible, markets can hold their own.”

"I'm not laying out any new shorting strategies on fear the Fed could come in with another round of dollar printing."
"There's been a lot of talk about a turn in real estate and that it has bottomed.
I don't know if I see the turn just yet."

HAPPY TRADING & GOODLUCK2ALL