The Dow Jones industrial average topped 16,000 for the first time ever Monday, while the S&P 500 briefly surpassed 1,800.

The Dow retreated from the 16,000 level, but still gained 14.32 points from Friday”s all-time high close, to 15,976.

The S&P 500 index dipped 6.65 points to 1,791.53. The NASDAQ fell 36.90 points to 3,949.07

The Dow is up more than 20% so far this year. The S&P 500, despite today”s downward performance, has soared more than 25% in 2013. The NASDAQ was on the verge of a milestone, too, nearing 4,000, a level it hasn”t hit since September 2000 — just months after the tech market collapsed.

Boeing shares rose Monday after the aircraft maker said it sold more than $95 billion U.S. of its new 777X at the Dubai air show. Boeing said it was a record launch for a new aircraft and was far more than analysts had been forecasting. Boeing has been the biggest gainer in the Dow this year, soaring more than 85%.

Boeing has also been the power behind the Dow”s rise from 15,000 to 16,000, rising 48% during the six-month period.

Tesla shares dropped 9% Monday, extending the slide that began last month. A series of battery fires have triggered a nearly 40% plunge in shares of Tesla since early October. Still, the stock is up almost 270% so far this year.

Sony shares rose after the company said it sold more than one million units of its new PlayStation 4 gaming console in the first 24 hours since the game console went on sale early Friday. The game system is Sony”s first in seven years and is going head-to-head with Microsoft”s upcoming Xbox One this holiday season. Shares of Microsoft slipped.

While stocks continued to soar, so did Bitcoin. The price of the digital currency touched an all-time high above $600 earlier Monday, up almost 20% from Friday”s closing price of $528.32.

Since the start of October, the price of Bitcoin has more than quadrupled in value.

The latest surge has been fueled by the interest of new investors, especially those in China, who are becoming increasingly optimistic about the digital currency”s potential growth.

Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were higher, lowering yields to 2.68% from Friday”s 2.71%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices stumbled 88 cents to $92.96 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices shed $15.20 to $1,272.20 U.S. an ounce.

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The Dow Jones Industrials will have to wait till at least next week to mount the lofty heights of 16,000 points, but both the Dow and the S&P did end the day at record highs.

The Dow Jones Industrials was up 85.48 points from yesterday”s all-time high, to close at 15,961.70

The S&P 500 index moved up 7.56 points from its all-time peak to 1,798.18. The NASDAQ strengthened 13.23 points to 3,985.97

The Dow is closing in on 16,000, while the S&P 500 is inching toward 1,800, both of which would be reached for the first time. The tech-heavy NASDAQ is nearing 4,000, a level not seen since September 2000, just after the collapse of the dot-com bubble.

Some believe stocks can continue moving higher in the short run as investors who have sat out the rally so far rush to get in before the party”s over. Plus, stocks are still trading at compelling valuations, compared with many other assets. Bulls also say that the market surge is justified by improving economic conditions and record corporate profits.

Shares of J.C. Penney rose on news that several hedge funds, including Appaloosa Management, have invested in the ailing retailer.

The stock is the worst performer in the S&P 500 this year, but it has rallied lately and will report its latest quarterly results next week.

U.S.-listed shares of voxeljet, a German manufacturer of 3D printers, jumped 6%. The company raised its outlook for the year after revenue surged 77% in the third quarter. Earnings more than tripled in the quarter.

Organovo, a company that produces human tissues using 3-D bioprinting technology, ended flat after surging 10% in early trading. The stock is up nearly 400% so far this year.

Government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both surged after activist shareholder Bill Ackman disclosed in a regulatory filing that his firm, Pershing Square, bought just under a 10% stake in each firm.

And there was another hot IPO Friday. Zulily, a daily deals site that focuses on apparel for babies, kids and moms, surged nearly 70% in its debut.

Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were lower, raising yields to 2.71% from Thursday”s 2.70%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices were unchanged at $93.76 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices gained 90 cents to $1,287.20 U.S. an ounce.

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Stocks ended modestly higher Thursday after Federal Reserve chair nominee Janet Yellen indicated in a Senate hearing that she will continue to support the economy with stimulus measures.

Investors were encouraged and sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 to new records.

The Dow was up 54.59 points to 15,876.20

The S&P 500 index moved up 8.62 points to 1,790.62. The Dow is now just 1% from hitting 16,000, while the S&P 500 is less than 1% from 1,800.

The NASDAQ crept up 7.17 points to 3,972.74, as a drop in Cisco shares weighed on the tech-heavy index. Even so, the NASDAQ is now at its highest level since September 2000 and is less than 1% from 4,000.

Cisco shares tumbled more than 10% after the company reported weak sales for the fiscal first quarter and issued a weak outlook for the current quarter, too.

Cisco CEO John Chambers blamed a “hard to read” economic environment, adding that the U.S. government shutdown increased the “lack of confidence among business leaders.”

Wal-Mart reported better-than-expected earnings, though the retailer missed on revenue and reported a slight decline in same-store sales in the U.S. Shares of department store chain Kohl”s plunged following poor results and a weak outlook.

The bad news from these two retailers comes one day after Macy”s ignited a retail rally thanks to its strong sales and guidance.

One observer noted that while Macy”s and even Michael Kors are still attracting shoppers, the economy otherwise is forcing consumers to keep a tight grip on their wallets. Though thanks to the ongoing housing recovery, home improvement giants Lowe”s and Home Depot are still improving.

Viacom reported a gain in quarterly revenue, driven by sales in media networks and filmed entertainment, and double-digit gains in net earnings.

Investors have been looking for clues as to when the Fed may begin scaling back its bond purchases. There has been speculation that the so-called tapering could begin as early as next month.

But during her question and answer session on Capitol Hill, Yellen said that the bond-buying program could still help the economy.

“It”s important not to remove support, especially when the recovery is fragile,” she said. “I believe it could be costly to withdraw accommodation or to fail to provide adequate accommodation.”

The comments appear to have convinced investors that Yellen would continue the Fed”s current $85-billion-U.S.-per-month bond-buying program for the next few months. The program — also known as quantitative easing or ”QE” — has helped spur stocks by pumping markets with extra cash.

Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries regained ground, lowering yields to 2.70% from Wednesday”s 2.72%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices faded 10 cents to $93.78 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices hiked $18.30 to $1,286.70 U.S. an ounce.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) Stock Quote and News:

Stocks on Wall Street stampeded ahead on Monday to escalate a rally that started last Friday on high hopes that Washington D.C. is going to sing “kumbaya” together and work out an answer to the so-called fiscal cliff that is coming at the start of 2013 that will cost the economy more than $600 billion in spending cuts and tax hikes. Investors believing that a budget deal will be struck by the end of 2012 lofted all three exchanges the most since September 6 when European Central Bank President Mario Draghi announced his plans of “whatever it takes” to save the euro.

Overseas, markets rallied as well in part on the back on the fiscal cliff optimism in the States and also because of an expected tentative approval tomorrow Read More

US stocks continued their downward plight on Thursday, adding to a string of losses amid a lack of confidence lawmakers can stop the economy from going over the so-called fiscal cliff and data showing the 17-country euro-zone has fallen back into recession. Read More

U.S. stocks fell more than 1 percent Wednesday as fears of turmoil in the Middle East added to ongoing concerns about a fiscal showdown in the United States.  In the six trading days since the presidential election, the Dow Jones has lost nearly 700 points, or about 5 percent. Read More

Wall Street was lower again on Tuesday while traders fretted over a delay in organizing a crucial installment of bailout money for Greece and the approaching “fiscal cliff” in the United States.

The Dow Jones Industrials dumped 58.90 points to finish the session at 12,756.20. Read More

North American stocks continued to struggle after the U.S. benchmark index fell 2.4% last week, extending a losing streak driven by uncertainty over whether the United States can avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. U.S. stocks seesawed Monday, as investors fret about the looming fiscal cliff and keep a wary eye on Europe and Greece. Read More

After triple digit gains on Thursday and a better-than expected jobs report Friday morning, stocks turned south and erased all, or nearly all gains, for the week as caution ruled ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election.  A pre-market jobs report initially buoyed markets to at least keep trading relatively flat until the glee subsided about the employment picture Read More

Stocks traded in a narrow range Wednesday afternoon, as investors found little reason to place any big bets with earnings season in full-bloom. Earnings and outlooks are keeping investors on the sidelines as business overseas is hamstringing growth for major corporations. The Wall Street slide on Wednesday added to triple-digit losses on Tuesday and made it four out of five days with red closes that have yanked almost 500 points from the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Today’s close for the Dow was its lowest since September 3.

The Dow faded 25.19 points to end Wednesday at 13,077.30.

The S&P 500 index slid 4.36 points to 1,408.75, while the Nasdaq dipped 8.77 points to 2,981.70.

Earnings from Facebook helped reverse some of the gloom surrounding third quarter corporate results. Investors were relieved that Facebook’s earnings came in as expected, and sales rose 24%.

Tractor Supply Co. reported third-quarter profits increasing to $50.02 million, or 69 cents a share, from $42.73 million, or 58 cents a share, in the year prior quarter. Revenue for Q3 increased from $977.8 million last year to $1.07 billion in the latest quarter. The revenue total was spot on with analyst predictions and earnings per share were 2 cents higher. The Brentwood, Tennessee-based company also boosted its full-year 2012 earnings outlook to between $3.63 and $3.69 a share from previous estimates of $3.58 to $3.66. Shares still fell to $93.00 in after-hours trading, a drop of 2.27 percent.

Boeing reported earnings that beat analysts” expectations and raised its profit outlook for the year. By late afternoon, the aircraft manufacturer’s stock dipped slightly, after being among the biggest gainers on the Dow for most of the day. AT&T, another of the major blue chips, edged lower despite activating 1.3 million iPhones during the quarter.

Shares of LinkedIn and Yelp found traction as well with Zynga feeling some bullishness.

Local business review website Angie’s List has never posted a profit and the latest quarter wasn’t any different. The company posted a loss of $18.5 million, or 32 cents per share, compared with a loss of $17.4 million, or 66 cents per share a year earlier as the number of shares outstanding more than doubled. On the bright side, revenue leapt by 75 percent to $42 million. Wall Street was expected Angie to notch $41 million in revenue and a loss of 33 cents per share. The analyst beat helped shares jump almost 14 percent in after-hours trading to $10.35.

The Manhattan U.S. attorney filed a $1 billion U.S. lawsuit against Bank of America Corp for what it claims are the bank’s fraudulent practices underwriting mortgages through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Netflix shares plunged nearly 12%, after the company reported disappointing earnings for new streaming subscriptions and offered weak guidance.

Also diving were shares of F5 Networks as the networking equipment maker said that it expects fiscal first-quarter earnings of $1.14 to $1.16 a share on revenue of $363 million to $370 million. Analysts were calling for earnings of $1.20 a share on $373 million in revenue. Shares doffed-of f more than 10 percent in after-market activity to $83.49.

On the U.S. economic front, new home sales for September beat economists” expectations, offering yet another sign of an improving housing market. The U.S. Census Bureau said that new home sales for September came in at an annual rate of 389,000, climbing 5.7% to hit a two-year high.

Investors shrugged off the U.S. Federal Reserve”s latest policy statement, which, as expected, didn”t signal any major changes to interest rates or the central bank”s plan to stimulate the economy through large bond-buying programs.

The price of the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury sagged, raising the yield to 1.78% from Tuesday”s 1.76%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices fell $1.05 to $85.62 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices dropped back $6.90 to $1,702.50 U.S. an ounce.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) Stock Quote and News: