Stocks Climb After Rough Day

The market was up and down all day today as investors divided on whether to applaud cash injections and welcome good earnings reports or fret over bad housing numbers and inflation concerns. The Dow ultimately climbed 65.27 to 13,232.47, the Nasdaq added 21.57 to 2,596.03 and the S&P tacked on 9.08 to 1,454.98.

Best Buy and Goldman Sachs highlighted the conflict: Their earnings reports beat expectations but their stocks fell nonetheless. “We have a real tug of war in the market,” one strategist told the Journal. Some said the Dow could finish 2007 where it began, near 12,450. Another analyst expected a rally: “We’re oversold, over-shorted…and over-gloomed.” (More NASDAQ stories.)