Healthy Stock Market x3

Just two weeks ago, we reported the stock market moving into healthy territory for the first time in the FOX Index's 2.5 year history. The Index defines “healthy” as 15,800, a total formed from adding a Dow of 12,000, an S&P 500 of 1,300, and a NASDAQ of 2,500. Two weeks ago, a NASDAQ of 2,755, or 255 over its healthy minimum of 2,500, pushed the FOX Index’s three-number total to 15,835, +35 healthy, even though the Dow and S&P 500 still had not hit their healthy minimums.

Yesterday, the Dow passed its “healthy” total of 12,000. It did so for the first time since June 2008 (the FOX Index began in August 2008), closing at 12,040. The S&P 500 closed at 1,308, exceeding its healthy minimum of 1,300, and doing so for the first time since August 2008. The Dow and S&P closings are both important milestones. The NASDAQ finished at 2,751, bringing the FOX Index total to 16,099, or 299 above the FOX Index healthy minimum (see chart).

Analysts attributed the stock market’s strong showing yesterday to positive manufacturing industry reports, both at home and abroad.