Stocks have their best week of 2012
(MoneyWatch) By some measures, U.S. stocks had their best week of the year this Thanksgiving week. The S&P 500 rose 49.27 points, slightly besting the 47.62 point gain for the week ending June 8.
A better measure, the Wilshire 5000, also had its best week of the year, rising 519.2 points. The 3.65 percent gain was slightly bested by the 3.70 percent gain in the June 8 week. This week's gain translates to $600 billion in appreciation of U.S. equities.
That 3.65 gain in U.S. stocks was topped by the 4.2 percent gain international stocks turned in, as measured by the Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VXUS).
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The media claims the gains were due to optimism over the fiscal cliff talks, progress on the Greek debt issue and the kickoff of Black Friday. There are no reports yet on Black Friday sales.
U.S. stocks hit an all-time high on September 14, but had pulled back 7.7 percent by November 14. Stocks regained half of that loss over the past five trading days and were down roughly 3.7 percentage points from that high.