S&P 500 Hits New Record

In what currently stands as one of the best rallies in years, the Nasdaq Composite rose back above the 5000 level for the first time since December 31^st.  Despite the fact that forward earnings expectations have collapsed amongst many publicly traded companies, more positive risk sentiment is circling the globe in a sign that concerns about Europe’s latest debt crisis and a British exit are fading.  Technology led the way higher in stocks, with Amazon (AMZN:NASDAQ) overtaking the market capitalization of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/BRK.B:NYSE).  However, the Nasdaq Composite did slip back below the key threshold, closing the cash equity session at 4988.64.  Aside from the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite, the S&P 500 closed at a new record high, rising 0.34% during the session to 2137.16 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched a 0.44% increase.

It is no surprise that former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s visit to Japan would raise a few eyebrows as the nation struggles to boost the economy through its quantitative and qualitative easing program.  Even after his enduring struggle to revive economic activity in Japan has fallen short of targets, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was reelected in a major victory for his party which now sees the Liberal Democratic Party control the upper house of the parliament.  With these election gains, it is now easier to rubber stamp changes to economic policy without a drawn out battle amongst politicians now that Abe’s power base has claimed such a massive victory.  Hints about future stimulus are already abundant, with some analysts and economists already floating the idea of dropping money off of helicopters to spur inflation.  The Yen weakened significantly versus the dollar, with the USDJPY pair rallying to 103.33.