10,000 = 50

Wall Street powers ahead; Dow tops 9,400: Tech stocks and Dow components surge as the Big Index hits a 14-month high. Nasdaq, S&P 500 join in. (CNBC Market Dispatches, 8/18/2003)

Relieved at a quick bounceback from the nation's worst-ever power outage and bolstered by solid earnings and recent economic news, stocks posted a striking rally today.

The Dow burst through key resistance and ended above 9,412, its highest close since June of 2002. [...]

And it wasn't just the Dow in rally mode. The Nasdaq moved close to its July highs with a gain of 2% as techs surged, while the S&P 500 closed within a whisper of 1,000.

The renewed rally faces a few hurdles tomorrow, with several economic reports and a slew of earnings due out. But for today, things were pretty much all looking up. "We walked in here today expecting a little fallout from the blackout, but if there was any it didn?t last long," Seaport Securities President Ted Weisberg told CNBC. "We have clearly broken out of this trading range."

Somebody please take away Tom Daschle's belt & shoe laces. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 18, 2003 4:45 PM