OxenBreeder wrote:
Warhammer wrote:
Stock market is going to plunge.
YUP!
Stocks rise as health-care sector paces gains
11:44a ET March 22, 2010 (MarketWatch)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks turned higher on Monday, with the health-care sector leading the gains on the belief that the passage of the reform bill would translate into more insured customers for hospitals and pharmaceutical companies.
The market's rise reflects "the 2014 date it kicks in," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners, of the legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Sunday night.
"The additional folks that will be added to the insured ranks is helping pharmaceutical companies, since [more people] will now have a way to pay for drugs," Pavlik said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 38.40 points to 10,780.38, with 22 of its 30 components advancing. The S&P 500 Index rose 3.81 points to 1,163.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 13.7 points to 2,388.11.
Tenet Healthcare Corp. was among those rallying, its shares up 5.5%, in the wake of passage of a health-care overhaul after a year of debate. Health Management Associates was up 7% at $8.70 after earlier rising to a 52-week high of $8.9.
President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law on Tuesday. Read full story about historic health-care vote.
Energy shares led sector declines, with a strengthening dollar hitting commodities including crude-oil futures, which fell below $80 a barrel. Read Futures Movers.
The stock gains erased an opening decline that came with worries about increasing government debt, climbing interest rates and the potential impact on the global recovery.
"Rates are rising overseas, giving upward pressure on the dollar. That's why you saw the market sell-off initially," said Pavlik.
And, with Wall Street expected to slowly grind higher in the long run, investors are using dips as buying opportunities, Pavlik said.
"Any short-term weakness is giving investors an opportunity to step up and do a little bargain-hunting," he said.
The Reserve Bank of India hiked its benchmark rates after the country's markets closed on Friday to curb rising inflation, echoing similar moves this month in Australia and Malaysia.
And mixed signals from European leaders about aid to debt-riddled Greece also weighed on the market.
"The European Union may be a paper tiger if it doesn't even support its own members," said Pavlik of the potential Greece might seek aid from the International Monetary Fund.
