How the Dow Jones Industrial Average Did Today

The Dow Jones Industrial Average today jumped as U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen offered a positive outlook for the U.S. economy during her congressional testimony this morning.

Here are the closing numbers:

DOW: 16,551.23; +0.2%
S&P 500: 1,875.66; -0.1%
NASDAQ: 4,051.50; -0.4%

Now check out the top 10 stories from today's trading session:

• A Long Process Ahead: According to Fed Chair Janet Yellen, the central bank could take five to eight years to unwind the $4.5 trillion in assets it has built up over the last seven years. The Federal Reserve doesn't appear to have a plan in place either, and Yellen's testimony provided no suggestion that the central bank was in a rush to decide how to handle its balance sheet. Since 2007, the Fed has added nearly $3.7 trillion in assets. The Fed might not have a plan, but you can: A Map to Turn Fear into Profit

• Follow the Money: The Federal Election Commission (FEC) unanimously approved Bitcoins for political donations. The FEC is the most recent federal agency to provide guidance on BitCoin. The IRS recently announced it could tax the electronic currency as property and not as currency. And that's not the only big news. As our tech investing expert Michael Robinson explains, Bitcoin is about to receive institutional support thanks to a recent announcement. And it's sure to be a profitable opportunity.

• Sunny Days Ahead: Shares of SolarCity Corp. (Nasdaq: SCTY) popped nearly 20% today after it announced a new record for quarterly projects. According to the company, SolarCity booked business with 17,000 new customers last quarter. The Tesla-backed (Nasdaq: TSLA) company has an aggressive strategy to capture more than 1 million customers by mid-2018.

• More Easing on Tap: Eurozone government bond yields slid to new lows after Mario Draghi announced that the European Central Bank may announce future monetary easing in the next month. Investors have been waiting several months for any indication that the ECB would act to address a rising euro and declining inflation.

Garrett Baldwin

About the Author

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Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, and consultant with degrees from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Indiana University. He is a seasoned financial and political risk analyst, with a focus on stocks, hedge funds, private equity, blockchain, and housing policy. He has conducted risk assessment projects for clients in 27 countries, and consulted on policy and financial operations for some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including a $1.5 trillion credit fund, a $43 billion credit and auto loan giant, as well as two of the largest Wall Street banks by assets under management.

Garrett joined Money Map Press as an economist and researcher in 2011, specializing in alternative strategies with an emphasis on fundamental and technical analysis.

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