Fiesta on Wall Street
It is axiomatic on Wall Street that investors dislike deficits and rising interest rates. So what gives on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange?
The Dow Jones industrial average had its best close in six years last week while the Standard & Poor's 500 soared to a five-year high.
Party hearty. Perhaps it was days of boffo earnings and economic news. A drop in the price of oil, after a government report showed gasoline inventories improving, only added to the feel-good mood.
Mass-market retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target and even upscale stores like Nordstrom came in with better-than-expected April sales. Worker productivity increased 3.2 percent in the first quarter, better than expected, while the service sector of the economy expanded faster than anticipated and factory orders posted their biggest monthly gain in nearly a year.
But perhaps the statistic with the most resonance for the corporate class and their stock-trading chums was this one: Planned layoffs at large companies declined 8.1 percent in April to the lowest level in a year, continuing a recent trend. No wonder the suits are partying like it's 1999.
This story appears in the May 15, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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