Feb 1, 2008

Wall Street's best week in almost five years. The difficulty of market timing - why you don't get out and the fact that you lose on fear. In a week during which the Federal Reserve slashed benchmark U.S. short-term interest rates, the Dow and the S&P 500 notched their best weekly advances in almost five years, gaining 4.4 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively. The Nasdaq posted its best one-week jump in nearly 18 months, finishing up 3.8 percent in the same period.

Trading was moderate on the New York Stock Exchange - 1.79 billion shares changing hands, below last year's estimated daily average of roughly 1.9 billion. Nasdaq about 3.10 billion shares traded, topping last year's daily average of 2.17 billion.