Dow Watch: So Long, General Motors

Updated from 1:44 p.m. EDT

Mondays Are for Rallies

(At 5:30 p.m. EDT)

If I had told you six months that GM (GM Quote) would file for bankruptcy and the Dow Jones Industrial Average would gain more than 200 points, I don't think you would have believed me.

That's what happened though. The DJIA started the week with a rally, rising 221.11 points, or 2.6%, to 8721.44 and climbing for the third consecutive session.

As a result, the index had its best close since Jan. 8. Of the 30 stocks, 21 were up, eight fell and the aforementioned GM, whose days are basically done on both the Dow and the New York Stock Exchange, for now at least, was unchanged at 75 cents.

The best percentage gainers were Alcoa (AA Quote) and Boeing (BA Quote), each up more than 6%, while Pfizer (PFE Quote) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote), which is raising capital, had the steepest declines, falling 2.8% and 2.1%, respectively.

Citigroup (C Quote), another stock being removed from the Dow, closed the first day of its last week on the measure by slipping 3 cents to $3.69.

Thanks to the fact that the industrials have advanced 33% since their 12-year low in March, they're almost back to break-even for the year and are now off just 0.6%.

Let's Hope Things Get Better

(At 1:10 p.m. EDT)

Thousands upon thousands of jobs lost. Plant after plant closed. One model after another gone. Staggering amounts of debt that can't be repaid. Tens of billions of dollars of losses on the bottom line.

This is the story of GM (GM Quote) in the 21st century.

Now that the company is officially in bankruptcy, we've received assurances that things are going to be better. Just give them a little while. Sure. This was only the biggest automaker in the world, and now it's on its way to being what, No. 8 or 17 or so? Let's celebrate.