This market recap will be shorter than GrowYourFunds RSS Feed Subscribers are accustomed to seeing from me, but I will be traveling tonight so my time is limited.
The Dow rallied by nearly 100 points today, finishing up by 99.50 points on the 
day. The Nasdaq closed up by 15.58 and the S&P 500 closed higher by 8.21, or 0.54%.
The Dow was the strongest of the three major indices because of General Motors (NYSE:GM). GM shares rallied by 9.36% on nearly 4 times its average daily volume after news of the settlement between it and the UAW made investors enthusiastic about the shares.
Financials were strong today, with the investment banks showing the largest amount of outperformance. Bear Stearns and the news surrounding a possible 20% stake from Warren Buffett fueled the fire in this industry. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) shares rose by 2.61% and Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH) rose 1.82%.
Basic material stocks rose today, continuing their recent strength. Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) rose by 3.6% on news of its growth strategy overseas. Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) shares rose by 3.97%, helping to fuel the jump in the Dow today.
Tech stocks were mostly higher on the day, with several major tech stocks reaching new 52 week highs. Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO) gained 1.7% to close at a new high. NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq:NVDA) shares gained 2.37% to reach another new yearly high.
Volume was notably light today, as investors seemed reluctant to do too much in today's market. The gains today were more a product of a lack of selling than they were a huge rush of buyers swooping into the markets. Up Volume bested Down Volume by about 2 to 1 margin on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq today.
New home sales from August are due out tommorrow morning, so that number will likely get some press. The final measure of the GDP from the 2nd quarter will also be released, but since it is in the now distant future it will likely not cause much of an impact on the markets.
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