55 Days, 21 Records

Since October 3, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average first broke through its previous all-time high set nearly 7 years ago on January 14, 2000, the Dow has gone on to notch up 21 new all-time highs, including today.  The index currently sits at a superlatively lofty 12471.32.

Regular readers will know I'm still pining for 12,800 by year-end, not because my objective economic analysis would at this point necessarily support that target (though I would say we're more likely to move meaningfully higher than meaningfully lower over the remaining several trading sessions), but purely for retroactive style points.

Either way, I'll keep the record day counter clicking through New Year's.  Where the Dow's concerned, the fourth quarter of 2006 could well go on record as the most record-setting quarter on record.