Economy worsens and stocks surge Updated 4:07 p.m. The Dow Industrials ended the day up 149 points to 14,909, an increase of a little over one percent. The broader S&P 500 index climbed 15 points to 1,603, also a one percent gain. The Nasdaq composite climbed 28 points to 3,376. The major indices had all been even higher earlier in the afternoon, all on the news that the economic picture was not as solid as had been thought. While it's not a certainty, market strategists are betting that a limping economy means the Federal Reserve won't ease up on its monetary stimulus in the form of bond purchases. Brian LaRose, a technical analyst at market advisory firm United-ICAP, said traders still haven't really digested the implications of the Fed's recent discussions about the possibility of decreasing its stimulus, or what the economic numbers really mean for the market. "The markets are still trying to make sense of the Fed's comments," he said. And I don't think anyone has arrived at a decision. In reality, if the economy doesn't get better, the Fed will continue its stimulus program. But the question then becomes, if more stimulus still hasn't worked, maybe it's not such a good thing for the markets. He said that from a technical standpoint, the market still hasn't broken above key resistance levels to prove that it's likely to go significantly higher. LaRose and other analysts also predicted that the worst days are not over for gold, which plunged dramatically today, losing more than 4 percent.