Dow Soars 379 Points as Investors See Hint of Hope

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Dow Soars 379 Points as Investors See Hint of Hope

By JACK HEALY
Published: March 10, 2009


Wall Street soared on Tuesday in its biggest rally of the year after investors found a glimmer of optimism in the financial sector.

The faint signs of hope came in several forms: a memorandum from Citigroup saying that the bank had been profitable in the first two months of the year; calls for regulatory reforms from the Federal Reserve chairman, and the possibility that the government would reinstate rules governing short sales of stocks.

Even with a deep downturn choking the global economy and troubles still looming in the financial system, investors seized on these inklings of hope and pushed financial markets about 5 percent higher in a broad rally. The Dow has gained more than 300 points, erasing almost a week’s worth of losses. Banking shares surged, and safety investments like gold and Treasury debt slipped back.

“We poor investors, we don’t need much to make us happy, we’ve been beat up so hard,” said Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research. “At this point we’ll take whatever we can get. It ain’t much, but it’s better than a poke in the eye.”

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/business/11markets.html?_r=1&hp