The indices moved higher today, for the first time since last Wednesday, (with one exception: the S&P500 advanced on Thursday, but by less than 1/10th of a percent).
Todays gains are in line with the pattern established so far in this years 33 trading sessions. The NASDAQ record shows 13 positive closes, with a median increase of .98 percent -quite close to todays .91 percent improvement.
The DJIA index tells the same story: a median advance of .88 percent in its 15 separate up days, whereas it scored a plus .73 percent today. There were 15 positive closes for the S&P500 so far in 2008, having a median gain of .83 percent, equal to the present close of .83 percent.
In comparing these 33 days with the same period in 2007, the magnitude of the 2008 decline becomes obvious. The NASDAQ lost 12.14 percent so far this year, and gained 3.58 percent in the same 2007 period. The DJIA declined 4.96 in 2008 but increased 2.44 percent in the first 33 trading days of 2007; and the S&P500 fell 6.41 percent in the first 33 trading days of 2008, compared to its 2.95 percent advance in the similar period of last year.
DJIA .73 percent
NASDAQ .90 percent
S&P500 .83 percent