Via Bloomberg, stocks rose to their highest level since 2007 today following better than expected news for domestic manufacturing.
U.S. stocks rose, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the highest level since December 2007, on stronger-than-forecast growth in manufacturing. [...]
“We have solid gains that are likely to be sustained, maybe with some slight pullbacks over coming months,” Eric Teal, Raleigh, North Carolina-based chief investment officer at First Citizens Bancshares Inc., which oversees $4.5 billion, said in a telephone interview. “The manufacturing data continue to show signs of improvement. It supports our modest pro- cyclical position.”
Manufacturing in the U.S. expanded at a faster pace than forecast in March, a sign that the industry is weathering slower global growth. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index rose to 53.4 from 52.4 a month earlier, the Tempe, Arizona-based group’s data showed. Fifty is the dividing line between growth and contraction. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected the gauge would climb to 53.
But according to Mitt Romney, the economy is worse now than it has ever been in history! Or something.
