Stocks Rise on Rebound Hopes

[The Finman]

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<h2><font color=#003399>Stocks Rise on Rebound Hopes </font></h2>
NEW YORK --- Stocks rose Monday in light trading, with the Dow average ending at a 14-month high, as encouraging news from big retailers like Wal-Mart (WMT) and Lowe's (LOW) bolstered investors' hopes that the economy and corporate profits are improving.

The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 37.48 points, or 2.2 percent, to a one-month closing high of 1,739.49.

Signs of improvement in the economy, corporate profits and retail sales are luring investors into stocks, said Erik Gustafson, senior vice president and portfolio manager at Columbia Management Group.

We had some good earnings news out of Lowe's, and Wal-Mart reported sales at the high end of expectations that weren't hurt by the power outage," said Rich Nash, chief market strategist at Victory Capital Management.

About 1.1 billion shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange and about 1.5 billion were traded on Nasdaq.

Wal-Mart said August sales in its U.S. stores may beat its forecast and show the biggest gain in 14 months.

Financial markets got a dose of upbeat economic news after a report from the National Association of Home Builders showed U.S. home builders in August were at their most optimistic since January 2000, indicating the housing market was proving resilient to higher borrowing costs.

Wal-Mart Stores shares rose after the retailer said August sales at its U.S. stores open at least a year may beat its target range of a 3 percent to 5 percent gain.


Full Article <font color="red"><u>Here</u></font>