Slim gains on vacation volume still sufficed to send the Dow Jones Index up for a sixth successive session as it and the Standard & Poor’s 500 closed at fresh highs for the year. While 1,10

Equities ended mixed in unusually tight trading. Buffett was a buffer against broader declines with his big railroad bet, but a downgrade of the semiconductor sector left Intel (INTC) (-2.68%) e

The S&P 500 fell for a fourth straight session -- its steepest drop since October 1st -- ensuring a close below the 50-day moving average as a 12% jump in the VIX had investors holding their

How long, O Lord, how long? It's always good to remember that the stock market is not the economy. Every day I come into the office to find literally dozens of emails complaining that the market is i

Couples Retreat but equities advance. Vince Vaughn’s rom-com ruled at the box office as the S&P 500 posted its first full week of unbroken gains since November 2006. The Dow ended at a fres

What a nasty day it was yesterday. My umbrella blew inside out and broke like a Popsicle stick and I ended up getting soaked. It looked like I just got out of the shower by the time I got to the offi

Investors feared a hangover after the recent run up in equities, especially since Anheuser-Busch InBev’s CEO rang yesterday’s opening bell, but they needn’t have worried. Indeed it&

The story of the day was the jobs number and the increasing unemployment rate. The nonfarm payrolls came in at -216k vs. -230k consensus estimates. The unemployment rate inched closer to 10% coming i

There’s now about $1.25 billion in the pot of money available to compensate the victims of Bernie Madoff’s fraud. Two hedge funds run by Banco Santander (STD), a Spanish concern, have

Has there ever been a transfer of power where the fortunes of so many rested on the shoulders of so few? Isn’t that missing the point entirely? After years of reckless spending,