Stocks Rally As No Government Shutdown Seen; NASDAQ At Record High

Closing at as record high, the NASDAQ powered through the 6000 mark while the Dow and S&P 500 had their best back-to-back sessions of the year.

Investors appear to be pleased with the progress in Washington toward a peaceful resolution to the budget, in which the congress must fund the government by Friday night or be forced to close down parts of the federal apparatus.

Key to the negotiation has been President Trump's masterful handling of the situation, saying he can wait until later in the year to get congress to partially fund the building of the wall between Mexico and the United States on the US southern border. Democrats have already cried wolf over the measly $1.3 billion that would need to be appropriated to get the project into planning stage. Trump, knowing that a government shutdown would be blamed on Republicans, backed off his demands in order to attain at least a limited peace with the obstructionist Democrats.

This master stroke by Trump left investors giddy with confidence that the government will function without interruption. Also aiding the rally was a spate of earnings, notably by McDonald's, which suggested the economy is on a solid, growing footing.

Though the bull market which began in March of 2009 seems to be getting long in the tooth, the expansion due to Trump policies may just be starting.

At the Close, Tuesday, April 25, 2017:
Dow: 20,996.12, +232.23 (1.12%)
NASDAQ: 6,025.49, +41.67 (0.70%)
S&P 500: 2,388.61, +14.46 (0.61%)
NYSE Composite: 11,603.28, +71.49 (0.62%)