Sam Collins

Nasdaq Could Make a Major Run

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Despite the Fed's concerns about retail sales and consumer spending, as reported in its Beige Book, stocks continued the advance that started Thursday Sept. 3. This gives the major indices four-straight days of gains, which were generally made in the face of negative economic news for the United States and a declining U.S. dollar.

Yesterday's trading started on the downside but quickly reversed, and by 10 a.m., stocks were solidly on the plus side.

Gains by Dow 30 members Boeing (BA), General Electric (GE) and Caterpillar (CAT) more than offset losses by McDonald's (MCD), Wal-Mart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD). 

And the financials also did well after a slow start. AIG (AIG) gained almost 8.5% following two minus days. And Capital One (COF) rose almost 6% following an upgrade by Citigroup (C), which also upgraded Morgan Stanley (MS) and MasterCard (MA).

But it was the energy and materials that saved the day with a late rally that took the major indices from almost an unchanged condition at 3 p.m. to solid gains by the close.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 50 points, closing at 9,547, the S&P 500 (SPX) was up 8 points, closing at 1,033, and the Nasdaq (NASD) rose 23 points to close at 2,060.