Stocks Surge 3 Percent

With Intel forecasting a pickup in the second half of the year and sunny news from the Federal Reserve, all three major indicators surged today. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 256 points or 3.1 percent. The S&P 500 went up 27 points or 3 percent. The Nasdaq composite climbed 63 points or 3.5 percent. Investors were cheered by news from the Fed that the end of the recession might be in view and were encouraged by an announcement from chipmaker Intel that it had bettered forecasts. Of course, even after the biggest quarterly climb in a decade, the S&P 500 is more than 40 percent below its October 2007 apex.