S&P 500 Index - New All-time Record Intra-day High (Finally)

The S&P 500 Index finally advanced today above its record intra-day high of 1,576.10 as set in October 2007. Today’s gains in the U.S. stock market were convincing and across-the-board. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also posted a record high today, and the NASDAQ Composite Index posted its best closing level since November 2000. The Dow Jones Transportation Average and the Russell 2000 Index posted big gains today, but are both still slightly below their all-time highs as established in mid-March.

Here are today’s closing marks, with changes from Tuesday’s close:

                                                                                    Wednesday’s Closing Prices              

Dow Jones Industrial Average                        14,802.24        +128.78           +0.88%

S&P 500 Index                                                  1,587.73        +  19.12           +1.22%

NASDAQ Composite Index                               3,297.25        +  59.39           +1.83%

Russell 2000 Index                                               946.09        +  16.75           +1.80%

Dow Jones Transportation Average                  6,181.33        +108.47           +1.79%

From the minutes of the most recent Federal Open Market Committee Meeting, as released today, there was some discussion at the Fed about possibly scaling back the current $85 billion/month bond purchase program (aka QE3), but Fed Chairman Bernanke is clearly not onboard with this idea. In fact, as recently as Monday this week he said that economic conditions were far from where he would like them to be. The U.S. stock market is advancing on this monetary green light from Mr. Bernanke, dramatically easier monetary policy moves in Japan recently, friendly monetary rhetoric from Europe, and improving sentiment among investors regarding Q-1 U.S. corporate earnings reports expected immediately ahead.

Bottom Line: Today’s gains in the U.S. stock market were convincing and broadly based. The path of least resistance is clearly to the upside right now, and additional gains can be anticipated over the next two or three days. My target date for the next peak, as mentioned this past weekend, is still Monday, April 15^th. I don’t see any reason to step in front of this northbound train right now, but I also believe that the risk of a sudden downturn is too high to safely join in the rally.