MR. MARKET, WALL STREET’S 20 TRILLION DOLLAR MAN

S& P 500 leads market rally being driven by earnings, oil price rebound, Trump

Meet Wall Street’s new $ 20 trillion man: Mr. Market.

Mr. Market is the nickname for the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index. In Monday trading the large- company gauge not only hit another fresh high, but it also hit a record market value of $ 20.03 trillion, up from $ 5.9 trillion at the market’s last major low on March 9, 2009, according to data from S& P Dow Jones Indices. The S& P 500 jumped 12.15 points to close Monday at 2328.25.

The market value, or capitalization, of the S& P 500 is derived by adding up the market values of all 500 companies in the index. Heading into this week, Apple ranked No. 1 in S& P 500 market value at $ 710.7 billion, followed by software giant Microsoft at $ 503.2 billion.

Monday’s rally marked a continuation of a sharp rise in stock prices since Donald Trump was elected president Nov. 8. Wall Street has been in risk- taking mode as investors bet that Trump’s promised moves to lower income taxes for corporations and other policies deemed positive for economic growth will warrant higher stock prices.

The S& P 500’ s rise in value above $ 20 trillion for the first time came on a day when every corner of the U. S. stock market was in rally mode. The bluechip Dow Jones industrial average, the technology- packed Nasdaq composite and small- company Russell 2000 indexes notched record closing highs Monday.

And Apple, the maker of iPhones and iPads and the world’s largest company by market value, closed at an all- time high of $ 133.29, eclipsing its previous high of $ 133 on Feb. 23, 2015. ( Apple once closed at $ 702.10, but that was before its 7- for- 1 stock split in June 2014, which at the time adjusted its price to $ 100.30.)

The rally, one Wall Street pro says, is being driven by three things.

“First, the earnings season is coming in with a slate of upside surprises, especially among growth stocks” such as online retailer Amazon. com and Apple, says David Rosenberg, chief economist and strategist at Ca- nadianbased investment firm Gluskin Sheff. The S& P 500’ s fourth- quarter 2016 earnings growth rate is now 8.4%, on pace for its best quarter since the third quarter of 2014, according to earnings tracker Thomson Reuters I/B/ E/ S. Second, Rosenberg says, is news that the deal to cut oilproduction agreed to by members of OPEC is holding, which is keeping the price of U. S.- produced crude in the mid-$ 50 per barrel range. Crude fell 1.8% Monday to around $ 53 per barrel. The final piece of the puzzle, according to Rosenberg, are signs that President Trump is dialing down some of his more controversial foreign policy views. Still, there’s a healthy mix of trepidation to go with the optimism, says Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S& P Dow Jones Indices. “The tick ( the market) is up, but so is nervousness,” he told USA TODAY. “The current saying is, ‘ Things could change on a tweet.’ ”

“The tick ( the market) is up, but so is nervousness. The current saying is ‘ things could change on a tweet.’ ” Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S& P Dow Jones Indices

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