Thursday

Despite an oil rig explosion and Hurricane Earl approaching the East Coast, stocks continued to climb today. These gains come as investors await Friday's release of the monthly jobs data, which will shed more light on the economic recovery. Better-than-expected housing and retail data provided some encouragement to investors, but caution prevailed following yesterday's rally. Hopefully tomorrow will bring good news and continued gains! DJIA +50.63 Nasdaq +23.17 S&P 500 +9.81.