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The Dow Jones industrial average soared almost 400 points today as a plethora of good news soothed the frayed nerves of investors. This is the best start for stocks in the second quarter since 1938, according to Bloomberg.First, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH) and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) announced plans to raise an additional $19 billion in capital to bolster their balance sheets that have been pounded by write downs from exposure to subprime mortgages. The news lifted the shares of many financial stocks including Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER), Bear Stearns Cos. (NYSE: BSC) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS).
For once, the economic data wasn't all that bad either. Data from the Institute of Supply Management showed manufacturing activity slowed in March at a slower rate than February and the government also reported better-than-expected construction data for February.
Shares of retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and industrial firms such as General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) were up in afternoon trading.
This is prompting some market watchers to breathe a sigh of relief. In fact, Waddell & Reed Chief Executive Henry Herrmann told Bloomberg News that ``the market's getting a little more comfortable that the crisis is over. It's a rally associated with the presumed elimination of survival risk.''
Though the news is good, one day does not make a trend. Prudent investors might want to hold off for a while before they look for bargains in this bipolar market
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