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August 21, 2009 in Business
Stocks jump as Bernanke says economy near recovery
Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke, right, chats with European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet, center, and Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa during a break from the annual conference of the Federal Reserve in Jackson, Wyo., Friday, Aug. 21, 2009. The Teton Mountains and Grand Teton Peak are in the background.
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NEW YORK — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has told investors what they want to hear: The economy is indeed on the verge of recovery.
And investors have responded Friday by enthusiastically buying stocks. Major stock indicators have all surged more than 1 percent and hit new highs for the year. And Treasury prices have tumbled and pushed yields sharply higher, as investors no longer felt they needed the safety of government debt.
Bernanke told a Fed conference, “the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good.”
That sent the Dow Jones industrials soaring 155 points to 9,505. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 18 at 1,026 and the Nasdaq composite index is up 31 at 2,020.
Advancing stocks are ahead of losers by 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.48 billion shares.
© Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Life and debt 
liarsinnews on August 21 at 10:29 p.m.
The US is loosing thousands of jobs daily and the economy is improving? I must be having a bad dream? I`ll try to put a tooth under my pillow tonight.