On Monday the Dow closed at its highest mark since June 2008, although the NYSE composite volume was the lowest of the calendar year. On Tuesday, the major indexes finished effectively unchanged on light volume once again, with no new material revealed in the minutes of the most recent Fed meeting. The Dow hit another recent high on Wednesday, as news that several European banks were raising capital propelled the market to another winning day. While a better-than-expected initial jobless claims report initially helped markets on Thursday, a new 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Japan sent the Dow plunging 100 points, although the lack of any significant additional damage allowed the markets to crawl back to near the unchanged mark. On Friday, the imminent midnight shutdown of the federal government spooked investors, although losses on the day were relatively modest.

Most of the major indexes lost ground this week, although the losses were relatively minor.

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