US STOCKS-Wall St surges into close on euro zone hopes
* Trading volume surges in final hour* Banks rally; Bank of America up 10 pct* Indexes up: Dow 1.6 pct, S&P 2 pct, Nasdaq 1.6 pctBy Angela MoonNEW YORK, Oct 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks surged late in
trading on Tuesday as buyers latched onto another report of
agreements to strengthen the euro zone’s rescue fund to bid up
stocks aggressively.All three major indexes rose sharply after a Britain’s
Guardian newspaper said France and Germany will increase the
euro zone’s rescue fund to 2 trillion euros as part of a plan
to resolve the sovereign debt crisis.Investors and buyers piled into financial shares, which had
started the day weak but gained momentum on the late news.
Shares of Bank of America rose 10.1 percent to $6.64
and trading volume for the Direxion Financial Bull 3X ETF jumped to the highest since April 2010.The development from Europe is “really what we had been
rallying on for the past two weeks before Germany yesterday
signaled that the issue wasn’t quite resolved,” said Larry
Peruzzi, senior equity trader at Cabrera Capital Markets in
Boston.”But the direction of the market can easily reverse if we
get something bad again from Europe.”Bank of America shares had been lower after it reported a
third-quarter profit but showed its main businesses struggled
as income from lending and investment banking fell.Goldman Sachs Group Inc added 5.5 percent to $102.25
after reporting a rare loss, but Goldman said it was moving to
cut costs, including employee pay.Trading picked up shortly after the Guardian report, with
2.9 billion shares exchanging hands in the final hour on the
New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq. A total of 8.8
billion shares traded for the day, above the year’s daily
average so far of about 8 billion.The Dow Jones industrial average was up 180.05
points, or 1.58 percent, at 11,577.05. The Standard & Poor’s
500 Index was up 24.52 points, or 2.04 percent, at
1,225.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 42.51
points, or 1.63 percent, at 2,657.43.The CBOE Volatility Index VIX , Wall Street’s “fear
gauge,” was down nearly 5 percent but still remained elevated
above 30.Financial stocks were the top gainers. The KBW bank index advanced 5.6 percent.U.S. homebuilder stocks were helped by strong homebuilder
sentiment data, signaling improvement in the housing market.Shares of KB Home rose 11.6 percent to $7.02.
Lemme just hack away at this gizmo…
Blog Guy, I’m looking for a new career and I know your advice is the best. I picked up a colorful brochure called, “The Exciting World of Battlefield Rocket Repair,” and I was wondering if you think that’s a good way to go?
That brochure is really making the rounds, isn’t it? I hear from lots of young people, captivated by the opening lines, “Hey, have you always wanted to see Libya?”
So, what do you think? Would I need to learn to use a lot of complicated tools?
Not really. You can see this guy in the photo working on a sophisticated Grad rocket, and he’s just using a knife.
Yikes! Using a knife on a Grad rocket? That seems pretty dangerous!
Hey, there are worse jobs than his.
Like what?
Like that guy behind him, who has to pour a bottle of water on the Grad rocket if it starts to take off.
So where would I go to learn how to repair this kind of rocket?
You really want me to say it?
Sure, go for it, Blog Guy, it’s a Friday!
Grad school…
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Top and right: An anti-Gaddafi fighter uses a knife on a Grad rocket from a strategic checkpoint, north of the besieged Libyan city of Bani Walid, September 30, 2011.
Left: Anti-Gaddafi fighters prepare a Grad multiple rocket launcher from a strategic checkpoint, north of the besieged Libyan city of Bani Walid, September 30, 2011.
REUTERS photos by Saad Salash
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