The Dow Jones average took another step forward on Monday to close at 9789, tantalizingly close to the magic 10,000 mark that once seemed like a floor rather than a goal. The index was up 124 points on the day.
What was the cause for the rise? It depends on who you ask:
* Two announced mergers helped the market along, supposedly because they're a sign that the credit markets are open again, or because investors have started buying up shares of potential takeover targets.
* Investors are expecting third quarter earnings numbers to be strong.
* The general sense among investment professionals is that the recession is really over.
* Business Week also noted: "Wall Street also weighed a Wall Street Journal report Monday that $35 billion in support of state and local housing agencies will be committed by the White House to provide mortgages to low-income earners."
It could be any of these things, or none of them. The government has pumped plenty of money into the mortgage market in the past, and Xerox, one of the major players in the day's mergers, lost value on the day. Perhaps the best news of the day was how broad-based the optimism was: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were up in addition to the Dow, Treasurys were up, the dollar was up. With all that, it was a day full of good news.
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