Back over Dow 12,000 - whew!

Not only that, but the market actually picked up 56 points on the day - not bad considering that the Dow fell under 12,000 for the first time since November. Some of the technical analysts have been warning that finishing below 12,000 would be a bad sign, so 12,133 should be a cause for celebration. But it's really rocky out there, evidenced by local stocks that were all over the map. Just after the close, for example:

•Amgen +0.50%
•Cheesecake Factory +2.36%
•DreamWorks -0.39%
•Disney +0.33%
•Countrywide +2.87%
•KB Home +3.97%
•99 Cents Only Stores -6.97%

Yes, ongoing nervousness about the subprime mess and how it might impact real estate in general no doubt contributed to the up-and-down session, but there's another factor to keep in mind - Friday's expiration of contracts for stock-index futures, stock-index options, stock options and single-stock futures, otherwise known as "quadruple witching." That makes for lots and lots of volatility - and heck, it's only Wednesday. By the way, not all techies think 12,000 is that big a deal - among them, Katie Townshend, chief market technician at MKM Partners, who told CNBC that "round numbers do hold significance, but in this case I don't believe so." She's short-term bearish, long-term bullish.


More by Mark Lacter:
American-US Air settlement with DOJ includes small tweak at LAX
Socal housing market going nowhere fast
Amazon keeps pushing for faster L.A. delivery
Another rugged quarter for Tribune Co. papers
How does Stanford compete with the big boys?
Those awful infographics that promise to explain and only distort
Best to low-ball today's employment report
Further fallout from airport shootings
Crazy opening for Twitter*
Should Twitter be valued at $18 billion?
Recent stories:
Siri versus Hawaiian pidgin (video)
Letter from Down Under: Welcome to the Homogenocene
One last Florida photo
Signs of Saturday: No refund
'I Am Woman,' hear them roar

New at LA Observed
On the Media Page
Go to Media

On the Politics Page
Go to Politics
Arts and culture

Sign up for daily email from LA Observed

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


Advertisement
Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
The multi-talented Mark Lacter
LA Observed on Twitter and Facebook