Rate cut revs up stocks for run at the record

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2007 | by Matt Krantz and Adam Shell

The Federal Reserve's surprise half-point interest rate cut has injected life into stocks for two consecutive days and stirred optimism that two months of turmoil might finally be over.

Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average climbed 76 points to 13,816, which, on top of Tuesday's explosive rally, brought its two-day gain to 412 points. And just a month after many on Wall Street worried about a possible bear market, the blue-chip barometer now is just 1.3% away from setting a new high.

"We're very close," says Rod Smyth, chief investment strategist at Wachovia Securities.

Records were commonplace earlier this year. But that was before the Dow suffered a vicious 1,155-point decline in the month after it hit a record 14,000. New highs for the Dow...