NEW
HIGHS BY THE SCORE
by David Shvartsman
Finance Trends Matter
February 23, 2007
If you were watching
the markets this week and last, you might have noticed a definite theme
unfolding, even from a distance. Simply put, the number of new highs
being set in financial markets across the board is almost staggering.
We saw new, synchronized highs in the Dow Transports, Industrials, and
Utilities averages last week, prompting some to warn of danger
ahead.
We have reports of new
highs in margin debt, with a record $285.6 billion set in January on
the New York Stock Exchange. Margin debt increased 24.2 percent in 2006,
while the Dow gained 16.3 percent, according to the Sacbee.com article.
The Nasdaq reached a six-year
high Thursday, helped along by a rally in chip stocks. It marked the
Nasdaq Composite Index's highest close since February of 2001.
Looking across the globe, we witnessed new
highs in Australian share markets, with the ASX 200 and the All
Ordinaries index both ending the week at new highs.
The Nikkei closed at a seven-year high, finishing over the 18,000 mark
for the first time since 2000.
In South Africa, the JSE
closed at a record high Friday for the sixth time in the last eight
trading sessions.
Stock markets in Malaysia (KLCI), South Korea (Kospi), and Singapore
(Straits Times Index) all managed to make new
highs on Friday.
Whew. After all that, I won't even dwell on the new
highs recorded in the commodity markets this week. But if you want
to review, check out corn, tin, nickel, uranium, lead...
I'm getting tired here.
© 2007 David Shvartsman
Editorial Archive
Contact Information
David
Shvartsman
Finance Trends Matter
Chicago, IL USA
Email
| FinanceTrends
Blogspot
