Wall Street: Back to the 900s?

The new year was scarcely three weeks old, and its step on Wall Street seemed springy indeed. With a burst of daily trading that surprised brokers—a daily average of 9,544,000 shares v. 7,500,000 last year—chart lines for the New York Stock Exchange pointed almost steadily upward. Boosted at midweek by a one-day gain of 10.41 points, the Dow-Jones industrial average finished the week 12.03 points higher than it began. Overall, the industrials had risen 61.47 since the year began, stood at week's end at 847.16, or as high again as they were last...