The Dow gained for the seventh straight day, moving up 58.66 points on good news about manufacturing expansion, lower jobless claims, and quiet inflation. CNNMoney reports the Dow added +0.4 percent, to end at 13,252.76. The S&P closed above 1400 for the first time since June 2008, having gained +0.60 percent to finish at 1,402.60, while the Nasdaq added +0.51 percent, +15.64 points, to close at 3,056.37. Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research says, “The jobs numbers are gradually getting better, and that’s the most important factor for the economy and stock market.” The Yahoo! Finance Manufactured Housing Composite gained +0.45 percent to finish at 935.2. Tracked housing stocks closed mixed, but Patrick Industries posted the largest gain, +6.78 percent, +0.59, to finish at 9.29. Louisiana pacific also gained nicely, moving up 3.78 percent. None of the tracked stocks lost more than 0.76 percent. Affiliated Managers Group 112.72 +1.12 (+1.00%). Cavco Industries 48.19 +1.08 (+0.17%). Clayton Homes, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, as well as MH home-building, lending and other housing suppliers parent company Berkshire Hathaway 122,000 +877.00 (+0.72%). Champion, Liberty Homes, Deer Valley and Palm Harbor all remained unchanged. Drew Industries 28.24 +0.12 (+0.43%). Equity Lifestyle Properties 67.98 -0.30 (-0.44%). Louisiana Pacific Corp. 9.76 +0.39 (+3.78%). Nobility Homes was unchanged at 8.00. Skyline 8.00 +0.17 (+2.17%). Sun Communities 43.24 +0.12 (+0.28%). Third Avenue Value Fund (3-14) 46.86 -0.36 (-0.76%). UMH Properties 10.17 -0.04 (-0.39%). Universal Forest Products 35.17 +1.02 (+2.99%).
