The News From New York

After the beating the stock market took on Monday, I didn't see how it would be possible for stocks to rebound and post a gain for the week.

Then, the stock market posted gains the rest of the week. But I still doubted there would be overall gains for a fourth straight week when the jobs report came out today, and joblessness went up to 8.5%. Surely, I thought, this will have ramifications on Wall Street.

Nevertheless, stocks rallied and finished in positive territory for the fourth straight week. I suppose, if I happened to be an economist, I might understand why this happened. But I don't.

"For the four–week period ended Friday, the Dow has gained almost 21%, according to early tallies," writes Alexandra Twin for CNN.com, "making it the blue–chip indicator's best four–week run since May 1933, when it gained 31%."

Of course, I suppose one can argue that, in May 1933, there was literally nowhere for stocks to go but up.

But there is other news — troubling news — from New York tonight. An as–yet unidentified shooter and a dozen other people are dead in Binghamton, a relatively small community about 150 miles northwest of New York City, following a shooting rampage in an immigration services center. More than two dozen people are confirmed injured.

This event is likely to be in the news for several days, at least, as investigators sift through evidence and details emerge about the shooter and his state of mind, but, whatever the facts turn out to be, it's a sobering reminder of how brief life can be.