Stocks close at 4-year high

Wall Street grabbed onto some encouraging news out of Europe and that, along with a couple of strong job reports, led to a huge day, with the Dow finishing at 13,292, up 244 points. That's the highest close since December 2007, which of course was just a few months before the roof caved in. That the rally happened the day before release of the government's employment report is curious (as is the fact that September is usually the worst month for stocks). For what it's worth, the forecast calls for job gains in the 100,000 to 150,000 range. From MarketBeat:

For the past six weeks, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been trapped between 13000 and 13200 (or, for S&P 500 watchers, 1390 and 1420), rattling around in that lofty trading range for what felt a touch too long. With today's breakout surge, though, those who have called for stocks to jump up and out of that range are feeling a whole lot better. Scott Redler over at T3 Trading in New York has been predicting (and cheering on) this stealth rally since last October, and his reading of the charts is that this rally still has some room to run. For Mr. Redler, the key test came last week, as the S&P 500 struggled and ultimately succeeded in keeping its head up above the 1395-1398 level, which he saw as a temporary floor for stocks following their July gains.