Here’s a sentence you haven’t heard much this year: The Dow Jones Industrial Average had a great day. The Dow closed up 202 points, or 1.4 percent, its biggest gain in 2011 so far. The increase was led by strong earnings from IBM and newfound optimism, following remarks by President Obama, that lawmakers would strike a deal to reduce the deficit and end the impasse over raising the debt ceiling. The Nasdaq also surged, gaining more than 2 percent on strong results from Apple and a surprising rally in News Corp. stock. The good news was enough to overpower weak results from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
