Today, the Dow Jones industrial average traded, albeit temporarily, above its RECORD HIGH CLOSE of 11,722.98, set back on Jan. 14, 2000. Rising to 11,724.86 in morning trading, the Dow then fell back softly to 11,707.49.

Up 1.12, at 1,337.71, the S&P also reached a 5 ½ year high. It is still 189.75 points off its closing high of 1,527.46.

The Nasdaq, up 4.23 at 2,267.62, is not expected to approach its high close of 5,048.62 any time soon.

The Dow was the first big index to recover because it did not rise as sharply in 2000 as the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

The last time the Dow stood at these levels, we were in the dot-com and housing boom frenzy. Ambitious investors sent the seemingly fail-safe Nasdaq stocks soaring, while the steady 30 stock index showed high but somewhat neglected value.

However, after early 2000, doubts about the high-tech boom set in. Signs of recession infiltrated the media, and when the 9/11 attack occurred (which not only affected investor confidence but also the bottom line in many industries), stocks descended drastically. Then the onslaught of corporate scandals (Enron Corp, WorldCom Inc, etc) shook Wall Street. The culmination of all these factors decimated stocks, sending the Dow down near 38% from its record high to a five-year closing low of 7,286.27 on Oct. 9, 2002.

Slowly, Wall Street regained value, as cautious investors began dappling in the industry. And now, with over 4 years of solid corporate profit growth, despite looming energy prices and interest rates, investors are once again moving Wall Street.

With the Federal Reserve's announcement to halt a 2 year run of rate hikes, and evidence the economy is not heading for a hard landing, investors have faith in stocks once again.

While jobless claims fell, dropping close to economists' expectations, the Commerce Department revised its gross domestic product number for spring to 2.6 percent from 2.9 percent. Unemployment benefit sign-ups dipped last week and the Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications filed for unemployment insurance declined by a seasonally adjusted 6,000 to 316,000 for the work week ending Sept. 23. The latest showing on claims was close to economists' expectations for claims to total around 315,000 last week.