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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (750187)	9/26/2006 4:14:16 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

demoRATS eat NOVEMBEr dust.............NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks pushed higher Tuesday, lifting the Dow Jones industrials to their high for the year, as investors focused on improved consumer confidence and regional economic figures rather than further evidence of weakness in the housing sector. In late afternoon trading, the Dow rose to its high for the year, gaining 79.09, or 0.68 percent, to 11,654.90. The Dow's advance put it within range of its high of 11,722.98 set in January 2000. Broader stock indicators also advanced. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose to a five-and-a-half-year high, increasing to 7.85, or 0.59 percent, to 1,334.22 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 9.78, or 0.43 percent, to 2,258.85. Stocks moved higher after the Conference Board said its consumer confidence index for September rose more than expected, reaching 104.5 from a revised reading of 100.2 in August. Analysts forecast the index would rise to 103. ''The markets looked pretty good all day today. It lost some ground and has come back nicely,'' said Stephen Carl, principal and head of equity trading at The Williams Capital Group. He contends the economic news and sentiment from recent days has continued to propel the markets higher. A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond that showed the region's economy strengthened this month. The bank's manufacturing index came in at 9 versus 3 in August, according to news service reports. A bit of bad news came from Lowe's Cos. and Lennar Corp., which warned of continued trouble in the housing sector. The disclosures fit with comments made Monday by Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher who said the overall economy was performing ''extremely well'' with the exceptions of the housing and automotive sectors. His remarks helped lift investor sentiment Monday. Alfred E. Goldman, chief market strategist at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., doesn't expect the gains will last. ''I don't think we're going to go up, up and away from here. I think you've got momentum and the magnetism of a new record high for the Dow.'' Bonds fell after a sharp rally Monday in what was perhaps some profit-taking. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.58 percent from 4.54 percent late Monday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose. A barrel of light crude oil was quoted at $61.01, down 44 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices rebounded briefly after several news service reports on OPEC comments sparked concerns of production cuts. ''I would preach a little caution here.'' Goldman contends that the markets will discount for November's midterm elections by mid-to-late October and that some of the run-up this week could reflect a desire among institutional investors to burnish their third-quarter figures. ''This time of the year you also get some window dressing by institutions and also some short covering,'' he said. ''The bears have not had a lot of a fun.'' Bears wouldn't have been surprised by news from Lowe's, which rose 18 cents to $29.02, despite reducing its full-year profit forecast; it warned that a slowdown in the sector was hurting sales of its home-improvement products. Lennar fell 4 cents to $46.84 after saying its third-quarter profit fell 39 percent amid sluggishness in the sector and the company, one of the country's biggest homebuilders, trimmed its fourth-quarter forecast. In the technology arena, PMC-Sierra Inc., a maker of communications and storage chips, fell 47 cents or 7.18 percent, to $6.07 after cutting its third-quarter sales forecast to $114 million to $116 million from $122 million to $124 million. Innovex Inc., a chip maker, fell 44 cents, or 16 percent, to $2.34, after warning its fourth-quarter sales could fall short of expectations. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.3 billion shares, compared with 1.33 billion traded at the same point Monday. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 0.66, or 0.09 percent, at 727.75. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.49 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 closed up 1.30 percent, Germany's DAX index was up 1.00 percent, and France's CAC-40 was up 1.42 percent. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: nasdaq.com