Weekend Reading

Good Sunday morning, and welcome to Weekend Reading. As always, here are some articles and papers worth reading. First, however, a look back at the week that just finished, and a look forward to the week ahead.

The major U.S. indices were up last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.2%, the S&P 500 index gained 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite added an impressive 2.2%. Economic data generally came in better than expected, with more job creation and lower inflation than had been forecast. The result, alongside the usual list of acquisitions and the like, was a market that climbed higher.

Looking forward to next week, it seems reasonable to think the market will climb higher still. I'm not the first to say this, but the old adage to "sell in May and go away" seems itself to have gone away, with the market looking like it will advance in June. There is no single factor at work here, and some of the usual sectors, like tech, aren't sharing in the rally the way they usually do, but absent any unexpected news, or nervousness about the foiled terrorist attacks at New York's JFK airport, higher numbers seem in the offing. ...