Stock Market

At times like these in financial markets, Wall Street trots out all of the usual platitudes aimed at trying to soothe investors and avert more calamity. "It's never smart to sell into a panic. " "It's a good time to hunt for bargains. " And the classic: "You've got to hold on for the long haul. " Financial advisors use these lines partly because there are kernels of truth in them. Over the very long term the stock market has gone up, of course. And indiscriminate sell-offs can produce bargains.

Election analysts fixated for months on the lack of progress on job creation - with unemployment stuck near 8% - as a principal reason to believe President Obama's reelection prospects looked bleak. But a group of researchers said Thursday that the pundits would have been wiser to watch another economic indicator: the stock market. In the three years running up to Tuesday's election, stocks gained 34.8%, said researchers writing for the Gainesville, Ga.-based Socionomics Institute.

The New York Stock Exchange plans normal operations Monday as Hurricane Sandy makes its way up the Atlantic. New York City mass transit is shutting down Sunday evening, and public schools in the city will close Monday. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered residents to evacuate some low-lying areas Sunday. According to the Exchange, weather last caused the NYSE to shut down on March 27, 1985 for Hurricane Gloria. Trading on the Big Board also was suspended after the attacks on Sept.

Renewed speculation that the Federal Reserve will take action to stimulate the economy erased an early-morning loss and drove the stock market higher in midday trading Friday. Stocks turned around after the release of a letter in which Fed chairman Ben Bernanke wrote that "there is scope for further action by the Federal Reserve to ease financial conditions and strengthen the recovery. " The letter to Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican from California, revived hope that the central bank will take steps in coming weeks, potentially boosting share prices.

The stock market suffered its worst drubbing of the year Tuesday, with the Dow industrials sinking more than 200 points as concerns about global growth reemerged on the heels of the market's extended rally. The Dow Jones industrial average saw its first triple-digit decline of the year after data showing that Europe's economy contracted 0.3% in the fourth quarter ignited fear that troubles on the continent could spread throughout the global economy. Investors also were unnerved by uncertainty over a proposed restructuring of Greek debt that is scheduled for this week.

Even as anxiety-ridden individuals play it safe in low-yielding bank accounts, professional investors are showing renewed confidence in the stock market. Bullishness among institutional investors has reached its highest level since last summer, and their buying has been powering the stock market's surprising early-year advance, according to a new analysis by TrimTabs Investment Research. The Dow Jones industrial average is up almost 4% in the first three weeks of January. It should be noted that such bullishness isn't necessarily positive.

The Dow's run toward 13,000 may not be the biggest surprise in the stock market this year. The sharp drop in volatility is just as unexpected. After barely budging last week, the Dow Jones industrial average resumed its effort Monday to permanently vault past past 13,000. It pierced that level briefly last week but has yet to close above it. After overcoming an early-morning sell-off, it's a smidge over 13,000 at the moment. The assault on 13,000 has made it easy to overlook the big drop in volatility.

Exchange-traded mutual funds that use risky strategies in pursuit of outsized returns are not making the stock market more volatile, according to a study by Morningstar Inc. The report argues that so-called leveraged ETFs, which attempt to magnify underlying moves in stock prices, have had little effect on the market's heightened volatility in the last few years. Instead, the study says, fundamental factors such as corporate earnings play a far bigger role. The fund-tracking firm is walking a fine line of sorts in its report.

The stock market will likely remain closed Tuesday as Hurricane Sandy bears down on the East Coast. But when will it reopen? Duncan Niederauer, chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange's parent company NYSE Euronext, told CNBC that markets will need to open by Wednesday, no matter what the damage, because options expire that day, the end of October. “It's hard to imagine we would be open tomorrow,” Niederauer told CNBC, though a final decision to close Tuesday would be announced in the middle of the day Monday.

The stock market enjoyed its best day in more than a month Thursday as the correction that many professional investors had all but penciled into their calendars didn't materialize. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 181.04 points, or 1.4%, to 12,986.43. It was the blue-chip index's best gain since a 218-point rise March 13. In the last two days, the Dow has reclaimed more than half of its 4.1% loss over the preceding five days. Investors latched on to encouraging comments from the Federal Reserve about interest rates and a rumor that first-quarter economic growth in China will exceed estimates.