Dear Diary,
Some people have a tough time getting back in the swing of things after a weekend of New Year’s festivities — especially on Wall Street, where folks take their hedonism seriously. Not so for me, though; my first outing of 2011 has been a successful one. I’m ringing in the new year with a 118-point jump to the upside! Only 364 days to go, let’s keep this momentum going.
First of all, I have to give kudos to my best stock of the day, Bank of America, which ripped 6.4 percent higher in one day. That’s a wild surge for a blue-chip company. The company said today that it had resolved a substantial portion of the mortgage putback claims lodged against it by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for around $2 billion. Less material, but still fun to talk about: the bank is girding for a potential attack by Julian Assange and the Wikileaks brigade. Hold strong, BofA! We can get through this!
As for economic data, November construction spending improved some, and manufacturing activity increased in December (although not necessarily the kind of activity that helps create jobs). Any news that isn’t horrible is okay news to me.
Excited to see what happens tomorrow,
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
