Stocks on win streak amid more bad economic news

(NEW YORK) Wall Street finally has something to be thankful for. A set of economic reports out Wednesday were predictably gloomy, but the stock market continued its winning streak. The Dow Jones industrials rose 247 points, the first time since April 15-18 there were four straight days of gains.

The market reversed losses from the early in the trading day after President-elect Barack Obama pledged to have a plan to deal with the nation's economic crisis on his first day in office. "Help is on the way," he said.

And traders shrugged off a familiar string of bad economic reports: consumer spending sinking by the most since 2001, jobless claims stuck at recessionary levels, factory orders falling and new-home sales at a nearly 18-year low.

The Dow finished at 8,726. For the four days, the Dow is up more than 15 percent and nearly 1,200 points. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 is up 18 percent. But no one seemed ready to declare the Wall Street carnage over.

"I don't think its a sign of longer-term stability, but feel this is a sign of shorter-term stability," said Todd Salamone, director of trading and vice president of research at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati. "There's just too much uncertainty out there."

And no one thinks the bleak economic data will end anytime soon, either. Stores have been holding back on holiday hiring this year, and that could further raise the unemployment rate for the next two months. The government will issue the November jobless report next Friday.