Wall Street Bothered by Stagnant Dow; Lowered Interest Rates Fail to Provide Impetus
Just before lunchtime last Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average was ahead more than 30 points and was again nudging up against its all-time high.</br></br>But by the time stock traders were leaving work that day, the widely followed indicator of blue-chip stock performance was tenuously holding just a 7-point gain. What happened?</br></br>Nothing, except that the Dow for the fifth time since it reached an all-time high in early June had tried and failed to climb beyond the record.</br></br>It is entirely possible that the Dow will reach new heights in the days or weeks ahead. Several other indexes are already in the stratosphere, and all it will take is a burst of well-timed program trading to lift the Dow to record levels.</br></br>But record or no record, many Wall Street experts are bothered by the fact that the Dow is moving ahead with so little conviction. Program trading - the computerized buying of stocks as an arbitrage play against stock index futures contracts - doesn't count. They want to see stocks rise because stocks deserve to rise.