Finally back in the black

CNNMoney.com has the story: Stocks churned Friday, at the end of a mixed week on Wall Street, that nonetheless left the Dow industrials in positive territory for the year for the first time since January. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 28 points, or 0.3%, ending above its 2008 close of 8,776.39. The Dow has now risen in twelve of the last fourteen weeks, rising 33% in that time, for its best fourteen-week stretch since March of 1975, according to Dow Jones. The S&P 500 (SPX) index added 1 point, or 0.1%, to end at a seven-month high. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) fell almost 4 points, or 0.2%, after ending the previous session at an eight-month high.
For the week, the Dow and S&P 500 ended with modest gains, while the Nasdaq ended lower. Stocks slumped through the late afternoon as weakness in oil and gold prices dragged on commodity stocks.
But the selling eased on unsubstantiated reports about the outcome of the Iranian presidential race, said Joseph Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading. He said reports that incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was unseated by challenger Mir Hossein Moussavi caused markets to recover. Yet, the results of the election are not yet clear, with both men claiming victory. Stocks could continue to move up through the next few sessions, but starting in the second half, equities look ripe for a bigger pull back, Saluzzi said. "The labor market is still bad, the consumer is still out of it, GDP is still a disaster," he said.
Markets have rallied for three months straight, since bottoming March 9. In that time, the Dow has gained just over 34%, the S&P 500 40% and the Nasdaq 47%, as of Friday's close. Bets that the pace of the recession is waning have helped fuel the advance. But stocks have struggled this week as rising Treasury yields and higher commodity prices have fueled worries that inflation could choke off any early signs of recovery. And economic reports that meet expectations may no longer be enough to further stock gains. "When stocks are up 40%, just meeting estimates is no longer going to be enough," Saluzzi said. "I think we'll see a little downturn through the summer unless we get some really good news.