The Dow Jones index reached a record high on Tuesday since reaching its lowest point in 2009.
The last time the Dow Jones hit a record high was in October 2007, but then it fell dramatically in 2009, causing a financial crisis across the country. The Dow Jones has now doubled since its rapid decline in 2009, according to the Associated Press.
So what is the Dow Jones and what does it matter if it is on the rise? The Dow Jones is a stock market index that measures a particular section or different companies in the stock market. It includes the stocks of 30 major American companies including Bank of America and Procter and Gamble.
Between 2007 and 2009, the Dow Jones fell 54 percent, but has now risen by about 118 percent since its 2009 low. The Standard and Poor 500, also a stock market index that includes Adobe Systems, Inc., Harley-Davidson, and Nordstrom, also is up 128 percent since its record low in March 2009, according to the Associated Press.
Even though the Dow Jones has been on the rise for the past two days, it still does not mean that America is completely out of its recession, as the increase has not yet been adjusted for inflation and unemployment is still at 7.9 percent.
Still, some analysts believe there could be a light at the end of the tunnel and that America could be on its way out of the Great Recession.
“It signals that things are getting back to normal,” Nicolas Colas, chief market strategist for brokerage firm ConvergEx Group, said. “Unemployment is too high, economic growth too sluggish, but stocks are anticipating improvement.”
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones continued to go up and set yet a new record high as it increased 42.47 points, about 0.3 percent, before the market closed. The NASDAQ slipped about 1.77 points and the Standard & Poor 500 went up one point during the day and remained relatively the same when the market closed, according to The Washington Post.
