Happy Monday: Stocks Up Strongly

Finally a little good news: Markets around the world gained sharply today, closing ahead for the second session in a row. After flirting with 9,000 in late trading, the Dow ended the day at 8,934.18 points, up 298.76, or 3.5 percent—its best close since November 7. The S&P gained 3.8 percent, to 909.70, and the Nasdaq did even better, closing up 4.1 percent. Rumblings of an imminent auto bailout deal and Obama’s plans for the biggest infrastructure investment since the 1950s “stirred the bulls,” Marc Pado of Cantor Fitzgerald told MarketWatch. US Steel and Alcoa led gainers among raw material producers, and GM and Ford also surged.