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York Stock Exchange after the closing bell and down the stairs of subway stations. Nearby office workers did the same.
• Maybe the memories of the financial meltdown are too fresh, or outlook for the economy is too uncertain. But the only indication that something historic had transpired was the six television news cameras that faced the stock exchange. Even that perplexed some Wall Street denizens.
• "Is that what this is about?" said one trader, referring to the cameras and reporters as he darted across Wall Street. He said he didn't have time to give his name because he was rushing to get home.
• The Dow rose 125.95 points Tuesday and closed at 14,253.77, topping the previous record set on Oct. 9, 2007 by almost 90 points. The blue-chip index has more than doubled since falling to a low of 6,547 in March 2009 during the financial crisis. It's another sign that the country is slowly healing after the worst recession since the 1930s.
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DC region faces unique challenges from budget cuts due to concentration of federal workers
• ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) -- To get a sense of just how much federal government spending influences the Washington metropolitan area, all you have to do is listen to the ads on an all-news radio station there.
• Instead of promoting happy hours and nightclubs, WTOP's commercials are replete with buzzwords about cloud computing and fulfilling mission statements -- pitches by IT consultants and contractors trying to land business with federal agencies.
• And the storm that was heading for the Mid-Atlantic on Tuesday? It's been dubbed "snowquester," a play on the D.C. wonk jargon that is used to describe the $85 billion that must be cut from federal budgets over the next six months after President Barack Obama and lawmakers failed to reach a deal that would reduce the national deficit.
• Communities on the Capital Beltway have disproportionately benefited from the federal government's growth for decades -- and there is no doubt they will now take a disproportionate hit from the budget cuts.
• The federal government is the region's largest single employer and an economic engine. Thousands of federal government workers for agencies as varied as the CIA and the Patent and Trademark Office make their home in the area -- about 15 per (Continued on page 32)
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