As you probably know by now, the S&P/ASX 200 jumped through 5,500 yesterday.
Here at The Motley Fool, we don't get caught up in celebrating "milestone" round numbers.
That said, we weren't overly surprised to see the ASX heading higher.
The local economy is recovering nicely, the U.S. markets are trading at close to all time highs, and interest rates look set to stay at these low levels for an extended period of time.
I mean to say… where ELSE are you going to invest your money?
- Term deposits paying 3% per annum?
- The red-hot property market, where rental yields are as low as 4%?
- Gold? Give me strength.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, halting its longest winning streak since September.
But that was just a precursor to the main game in town, earnings reports from tech giants Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL).
Just a few hours ago, both companies reported estimate-busting results.
In after-hours trading, Facebook shares rose 3.6% and Apple surged 8% — a nice start to the day for the Jackson Family portfolio. We hold shares in both tech giants.
The futures market suggests the ASX is headed for another strong day in advance of tomorrow's ANZAC day holiday.
Those big four banks and their seemingly indestructible share prices look set to continue on their merry way, coming after Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) hit new record highs yesterday.
Banks are not for me — even though my family has some holdings — but I'm certainly not going to stand in front of those particular fully franked dividend freight trains.
Speaking of runaway banking trains, Macquarie Private Wealth division director Martin Lakos said in the AFR…
"The upgrades in the bank sector along with the improving economy suggest that bank earnings will continue to rise. Bank dividends will at least stay in line with earnings, so we'll see some improvements in dividends as well, and there is an expectation that Westpac will come out with another special dividend over and above its ordinary dividends for the half."
Toot toot.
Mr Lakos said Macquarie was forecasting the ASX 200 to finish the year about 5900 points.
Zoom zoom.
It'll likely be a relatively quiet day on the markets today, with many traders off, or winding down in advance of another long weekend.
I don't know about you, but I could certainly get used to these three and four day working weeks. Only problem is it might mean Poor Joe Hockey has to increase the retirement age to 80.
Oh well… back to a full working week next week. Lucky I love my job, skipping to work every day.
Amidst the euphoria of new highs for our bank stocks, and the great earnings reports for Facebook and Apple, it's worth remembering the ASX still needs to climb by more than 20% to achieve a fresh record high, beating the peak dating back to November 2007.
All aboard?
