Why did the Dow soar more than a thousand points?

The Dow soared more than a thousand points yesterday, its biggest one-day point spike in history. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 rose dramatically as well.

The markets were not merely in a holiday mood. Investors responded to the largest holiday sales growth in six years, with total sales exceeding $850 billion. Investors also credit oil’s best rally since 2016, President Trump’s assurance that the Fed chairman’s job is safe, and a report that US officials will travel to Beijing in two weeks to hold trade talks.

One economist summarized: “Stocks just got too cheap relative to earnings, future earnings, any reasonable assessment of earnings.”

Looking back, it all makes sense. But looking forward, what will the markets do today?

I have no idea. Neither does anyone else, it seems.

President Trump visits Iraq

Surveying this morning’s headlines, I’m impressed by the fact that so few could have been predicted. For instance, President Trump made a surprise visit to US troops in Iraq. Two years ago, pollsters were nearly unanimous in predicting that Hillary Clinton would be our president today.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg was released from the hospital yesterday after surgery for early-stage lung cancer. When she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer nine years ago, her prospects for another decade of service on the court were unclear at best.

I could go on: the Lakers lost LeBron James to an injury but demolished the world champion Warriors on Christmas Day; drinking alcohol and coffee could be the key to living longer, according to a new study; and a woman from the UK won more than a million dollars in Las Vegas while playing the Wheel of Fortune slot machine–she hit the jackpot on her 960th spin.

Rabbi Abraham Heschel was right: “The course of life is unpredictable; no one can write his autobiography in advance.”

“The real enemies of our life”

As we turn our attention from Christmas to the New Year, we are tempted to focus on…