Last Friday in the Quarter

It's the end of the third quarter, and Wall Street fared well. While markets retreated a bit today, September saw stocks reach for previous highs. Today, reports of lower real income and higher inflation caused the 4 day up trend to end. Despite this, it's been a good quarter to own stocks, especially technology. If you're looking for a long-term approach to retirement, try http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/07/pf/retirement/retire0610_whatworks_hartmann.moneymag/index.htm. It seems that the biggest impediment to a nice nest egg is our spending. The weather is gorgeous in Mississippi. I spent my lunchtime outdoors. Enjoy the weekend. Dow -39.38 NASDAQ -11.59 S&P 500 -3.30

A Record-High....Almost

"The Dow is teasing everybody right now," said Kenneth Tower, chief market strategist at CyberTrader. I agree. The Dow hit as high as 11728.46, only to fall back just a few points shy of a new record. Investors are playing with us, thanks to continued low oil prices and a soft GDP report. I've never liked flirting. We're keeping our eyes on the headlines, as both HP and Research In Motion take their companies through internal probes. And Lenovo announced a recall of several hundred thousand laptops, making it the latest computer company with trouble. Good thing we have those market highs to keep us smiling! DJIA: +29.21 Nasdaq: +6.63 S&P 500: +2.56

Close, But No Cigar

The Dow closed today at 11689.24, just two points shy of its all-time high. A report showing solid sales of newly-built houses eased concerns about a cooling housing market, and upbeat investors jumped on the opportunity. I'm with Larry Peruzzi at Boston Company Asset Management, "I think this gets us in a position where in the next two days we could actually make a new high." General Motors and Nissan-Renault decided to continue talks about a possible alliance that would be worldwide. Their decision was announced this morning at the Paris car show, where another announcement was made by the CEO of Ford. He said he's more interested in fixing his business. Give that guy a cookie. DJIA: +19.85 Nasdaq: +2.05 S&P 500: +0.25

Blue-Chippers Rule

Blue-chip investors are floating home on air today. With oil prices lowering and high economic reports, the Dow soared today, coming within just a few points of its high, set in May earlier this year. And the S&P hit its highest since 2001. The numbers looked good on wall street, and in other venues today, as well. Former Enron Corp CFO Andrew Fastow was sentenced today. There was a reduction to 6 years jail time, down from the 10-year jail term in his plea bargain. Judge Hoyt cited Fastow's cooperation with investigators as his reason. DJIA: +93.58 Nasdaq: +12.27 S&P 500: +9.97

Black and Blue Monday

It's the day before WorldCom's former CEO, Bernie Ebbers, heads to prison. It's a sad day in Mississippi, as we write the final chapter in the fairy tale. One ray of hope for Ebbers is the announcement that a former Dynegy exec has had his sentence drastically reduced. This may not be the last word for the flamboyant Mr. Ebbers! Markets took off today, with the NASDAQ gaining an impressive 1.36%. The Dow was held back by the specter of further tobacco litigation. Altria took a hit and limited the Dow's gain for the day. Dow +67.71 NASDAQ +30.14 S&P 500 +8.46