Will The Dow Jones Hit 14,000

It’s tough to go out on a limb and predict the future, but it does seem likely that Dow 14,000 will be achieved in a reasonable time span. Despite gloomy economic news, the Dow has remained relatively stable and continues to grow.

One thing seems likely, in order for the Dow 14,000 barrier to be crashed, it will require the retiring of the bear by skittish institutional investors. A lot is made out of all the ‘little guys‘ in the market but it will take a move by the big boys to push the overall market higher. Institutional investors hold a large concentration of wealth. Money is concentrated also in the hands of options traders.  In the current stock market, it has paid for people to remain defensive rather than getting too aggressive.  That moderate behavior has helped stop people from losing money, but it hardly helps push the overall market to new heights.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average will likely pierce the 14,000 mark when the economy has rebounded, people are optimistic about their country and economy, and investments in the stock market look like a great idea who’s time has arrived again.

What do you think? Will the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 14,000 or will Financial Armageddon stop it from happening? Sound off below.

Record oil prices, the credit crunch and fears about the economy aren’t helping matters. There is still a lot of concern that subprime related writedowns at banks and other financial institutions will result in the worst profit decline for companies since 2002.

In wake of the declining markets, Moody’s has hinted at downgrading Morgan Stanley (Symbol: MS) to an A1 rating.

Moody’s senior vice president Peter Nerby said:
“Markets have clearly been challenging, but the firm has also incurred some expensive trading mishaps during the past year.”

Larger lending institutions were down at market close. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) closed at $24.59; Lehman Bros. (NYSE:LEH) closed at $22.25.

The passel of worries that investors juggled Thursday added up to an increasingly troubled economy. Analysts’ negative comments on General Motors Corp. sent shares of the largest U.S. automaker to their lowest level in more than 30 years, while Citigroup Inc. fell sharply after an analyst placed a “sell” rating on the stock and warned investors to expect less from the brokerage sector in an uneasy economic climate. Disappointing outlooks from technology bellwethers Oracle Corp. and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. further soured investors’ moods and made the tech sector one of the steepest decliners.

Also troubling were reports that oil prices would continue to climb, pushing worldwide inflation higher than ever.

The President of OPEC Chakib Khelil said he though that oil prices could go to between $150-$170 a barrel before a pull back.

Stimulus checks have not stimulated the economy as had been hoped, primarily because people are spending their checks on higher costing commodities, especially gas. Worse yet, global inflation is rising which will increase the costs of goods even more for American consumers. All in all, it was a tough day for the bulls today on Wall Street.