Dow Breaks Record Again, Flirts With 13,000

April 20, 2007 — -- Wall Street had another banner day Friday with all the major indexes trading higher and the Dow Jones industrial average setting a new record as it flirted with the 13,000 mark.

The Dow closed at 12,961.98, making Friday the 15th of the last 16 trading days that it ended the day up. This was the third straight record week.

Leading this recent rally is a spate of earnings reports, showing that some major American companies are doing better than the market had previously thought.

Friday's push came after the street got good news from Caterpillar, the world's largest construction equipment maker, and from aerospace and defense giant Honeywell.

"There's an old saying on Wall Street that profits are the magnet that pull stock price higher," said Alan Skrainka, chief market strategist for Edward Jones. "And right now profits are coming in much stronger than expected, especially in some of old-line industrial companies like Caterpillar and Honeywell."

Other traditional companies, such as American Express, gave the market strong momentum, Skrainka said. "The biggest worries were in the companies that were most sensitive to the economy, as it seemed like our economy was slowing down. Now it seems like things are picking up again," he added.

Friday's close was the 34th record close since the beginning of October.

The Dow dropped 416 points on Feb. 27 to close at 12,216. Since then, the Dow has risen 746 points.

The Dow first crossed 12,000 on Oct 13, 2006, and first closed above that mark on Oct. 19, 2006, according to a spokeswoman for the New York Stock Exchange.

The Dow Jones industrial average is made up of 30 companies including General Motors, Boeing, Wal-Mart and Home Depot. On Friday, most of those companies closed higher than the day before, including the Walt Disney Co., parent company of ABC.