Wall Street Eyes the 10,000 Mark

(CBS/AP)  Investors are watching Wall Street today to see if the Dow Jones will reach the 10,000 mark.

Analysts believe the Dow could hit 10,000 this week if companies report better than expected 3rd quarter earnings. The 10,000 level, these analysts say, could send a much-needed boost to Main Street.

On Tuesday U.S. stock futures are little changed, after a Columbus Day holiday rally at which the Dow peaked at 9931, a new high for 2009. It is just 69 points away from the psychologically important 10,000 mark, a level the Dow hasn't seen in a year.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index, which has risen over the past six sessions, also finished Moday at its highest level in a year.

"It's like ringing a bell for the folks that don't watch this market everyday to let them know things are getting better both in the market and the economy, and maybe it's time to start looking at stocks again," Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies and Company, told CBS News Correspondent Kelly Wallace.

On CBS' "The Early Show" Jill Schlesinger, editor-at-large for CBS MoneyWatch.com, said a number of factors contributed to Wall Street lurching back to the 10,000 mark. "Companies cut costs, they fired people, stopped spending money and the government pumped trillions of dollars into the economy. That is really the source of the move back up from those March lows," she told anchor Maggie Rodriguez.

Overseas, European stocks slid on weak economic data this morning, while Asian stocks rose moderately.

Investors around the globe had sent stocks higher on Monday on hopes that third-quarter earnings reports, which begin in earnest this week, will exceed expectations and validate the market's growing belief that the economy is on the mend.

On Tuesday, investors will get reports from consumer products maker Johnson & Johnson, tech giant Intel Corp. and railroad operator CSX Corp.

What's next for the Dow - and the economy - could be determined by some of the biggest banks who report earnings later this week - including JPMorgan Chase & Co., which reports on Wednesday, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. on Thursday, and Bank of America Corp. on Friday.

Investors want to see signs that businesses and consumers are picking up their spending and that companies have been able to drive higher profits through revenue growth, not just through deep cost cuts, which helped boost income in the second quarter.

And what should consumers do?

Schlesinger suggests, "This is a great opportunity to really stop, think and reassess. So we'll start with that reassessment thing. Every single retirement plan has an online questionnaire: It's called a risk tolerance or risk assessment questionnaire. Figure out where you stand. You've lived through some really bad lows. It may be time to move it along and try to diversify your portfolio and put your money back to work. Now is a great time to do it."

Schlesinger: Dow 10,000: What Should Investors Do Now?

[Ichabod09]

When the Dow hits 10,000? That's easy-just keep telling yourself that it's not real. The money involved is just play money. Then take your play money while people believe in it and buy something with value.

[get_down]

Ok - missed only by that much at the end of the day right now! Don't remove this story. Keep your dream alive. One of these days Wall Street could hit 10,000 Mark and all those Economists would jump up and down and shout-out "See see we told you so"! Yeh - RIGHT!

[stuart-johns2]

Why do you all underestimate the significance of the DOW climbing?

Let me ask you all this. If the DOW collapsed entirely, what sort of economy do you think we would have?

[pubsrtoast]

I dismissed the Pollyanna celebrations when the market was used as the sole basis in declaring a "good" economy under Bush as well. It has become obvious that the market has divorced itself from any sort of economic reality tied to main street or the population in general. The fundamentals of the economy are in awful shape and I see nothing being done to address them. The regulations that were supposed to eradicate to big to fail, the consumer agency with full oversight, even modest reforms on speculation and short-selling have all been gutted by the lobbyists before they were even written.

[get_down]

"And what should consumers do after Wall Street hits the 10,000 Mark?"
That's a really stupid question for a no-brainer.
Remember Ms. Elaine Chao - the Secretary of Labor in GWB's "Either you are with us or you are against us" Administration?
She would call a press-conference and make announcement that the "Economy is really on the rise because the stock is showing green today"!
If Ms. Elaine Chao thinks the "Economy is up" then she must be correct. After all she's the Secretary of Labor during GWB's tenure.
Me - on the other hand, took my youngest daughter's suggestion and moved all my 401K's distribution to fixed off stocks a few years back and had no regret whatsoever!
No wonder she's the Valedictorian!

[Marc_1986]

@get_down

Both political parties point to the stock market for their successes (failures). Everyone knows that how the market does correlates very little to the true robustness of our economy.

[pubsrtoast]

Time will tell if this is yet another stock bubble being manipulated by the likes of Goldman Sachs to separate the middle class from the remainder of their 401k value. I believe the answer will be yes.

[hungry1968-16]

10,000 is just a number.

It's no different than 9,900 or 10,100.

It's more psychological, than it is financial.