US INVESTORS have been sorting the green shoots from the weeds over the past fortnight and the week ahead could help to confirm an initial surge of optimism that has driven global sharemarkets higher.
The sharp shift higher for markets began as investors welcomed better-than-expected results from most US banking survivors and the gains were extended amid upbeat results for Caterpillar, Halliburton, Starbucks, Boeing, Apple, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Yahoo, eBay, 3M, Wyeth, Ford and AT&T.
AMP Capital Investors head of strategy Shane Oliver said, ''A key driver of the better-than-expected profits is that earlier this year management slashed costs on fear of depression.
''Of course the depression didn't arrive and the result has been a surge in productivity and better-than-expected profits.''
The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average hurdled the psychological 9000 point level on Thursday, amid another batch of encouraging profit results and data that delivered a better-than-expected home sales figures for June, and finished on a 2009 high on Friday.
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