TW, Viacom, Fox join in Dow surge
Disney stock lags with stalled earnings growth
Time Warner rose $1.25 to $70.68, Viacom was up $1.12 to $91.12 while Fox added $1.68 to $29, as the Dow Jones jumped 124.6 points to close at 9897.44. At one point in the day it was well above the 9,900 level.
Traders said the market momentum was so strong the Dow could pass the 10,000 level as early as today. Even if it takes a few days longer, the market clearly has broken out of the range it has been stalled in since last summer, when worries about a world economic crisis caused a sell-off.
While the market recovered from the slump by early fall, the Dow had not managed to stay much above the 9337 level it hit last July until Thursday and Friday of last week, when it added 460 points to close the week at 9736.07.
In the showbiz sector, Internet investors have sent most of the entertainment majors up even faster than the Dow. Time Warner, which had been stalled around the $60 to $65 level for most of this year, is up 11% in the past week, while the Dow is up just 6.6% in the same period.
The only showbiz stock of any note to lag is Walt Disney Co., which is out of favor because its earnings growth has stalled in the past year. Disney rose 25 cents to $34.75, 20% below this year's high.
Cable stocks also are doing very well. Comcast Corp. rose $1.50 to $77.12, while John Malone's Liberty Media Group added $1.31 to $57.18.
