Dow finally ends above 13,000 Associated Press ADVERTISING The Dow Jones industrial average rode a surge of confidence in the economy Tuesday to close above 13,000, a threshold it last crossed four months before the financial crisis of 2008 and
Dow finally ends above 13,000
Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial average rode a surge of confidence in the economy Tuesday to close above 13,000, a threshold it last crossed four months before the financial crisis of 2008 and the darkest days of the Great Recession.
The milestone extended a strong rally in stocks since the start of the year, and it came after a fitful week in which the Dow repeatedly floated above 13,000 only to fall back by the end of the trading day.
The Dow closed at 13,005.12, a close enough call that the gain of a single stock, Johnson & Johnson, made the difference.
The Dow last closed above 13,000 in May 2008, four months before the fall of the Lehman Brothers investment bank and the worst of the crisis.
“I think it’s a momentous day for investor confidence,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank. “What this number implies is that the financial crisis that we were all losing sleep over, it never happened, because now we’re back.”
Dow 13,000 comes at a time when Americans are feeling better about the economy than they have in a year. The Conference Board, a private research group, said its consumer confidence jumped to 70.8 in February, up from 61.5 in January.
Sun to shine on lawmakers’ stocks
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is about to open a new, real-time window into its members’ stock trades, real estate deals and other financial transactions, allowing anyone to view the information online within weeks of the investments.
The frequent reporting requirement also will cover top congressional aides and other senior government officials, including the president and the vice president — about 28,000 executive branch employees by one count.
Making lawmakers and other officials report their investment transactions every 30 days or 45 days, depending on the final language, is a key component of legislation explicitly prohibiting them from trading on insider information.
Both the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved different versions earlier this month and final passage is expected soon.
9/11 remains sent to a landfill
WASHINGTON (AP) — Partial remains of several 9/11 victims were incinerated by a military contractor and sent to a landfill, a government report said Tuesday in the latest of a series of revelations about the Pentagon’s main mortuary for the war dead.
The surprise disclosure was mentioned only briefly, with little detail, in a report by an independent panel that studied underlying management flaws at Dover Air Force Base mortuary in Delaware.
A 2011 probe found “gross mismanagement” there, but until Tuesday there had been no mention of Dover’s role in handling 9/11 victims’ remains.
Air Force leaders, asked about the 9/11 matter at a news conference, said they had been unaware of it until the head of the independent panel, retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, held a Pentagon news conference Tuesday to explain his panel’s findings.
Gambling website Bodog shut down
BALTIMORE (AP) — The gambling website Bodog was shut down and four Canadians indicted, including founder Calvin Ayre, for illegal gambling that generated more than $100 million in winnings, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The website’s domain name was seized Monday and the indictments, which were returned Feb. 22, were unveiled Tuesday in Baltimore, prosecutors said.
The indictments follow federal prosecutions last year of three of the biggest websites involved in online poker.
More than 75 company bank accounts in 14 countries have been frozen, and authorities are seeking $3 billion in fines and restitution, in that investigation.
In addition to the 50-year-old Ayre, prosecutors say the indictment names website operators James Philip, David Ferguson and Derrick Maloney.
