Dow rises (without help from the Fed)

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Despite no new promises of economic stimulus, the stock market is staging an improbable rally.

Stocks reversed a sharp early morning slide and the Dow Jones industrial average is up more than 150 points on the day, even though the head of the Federal Reserve pledged no new economic revival measures in a closely watched speech Friday morning.

In remarks at a banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Ben Bernanke indicated that the central bank could consider additional economic medicine at an expanded meeting next month. But he also stressed that the economy is more resilient than naysayers fear, and that its longer-term prospects remain solid

As of 10:40 a.m. PDT, the Dow is up 158.37 points, or 1.4%, to 11,308.19. The blue-chip index had been down 218 points. Barring a late-day collapse, the Dow would finish with a weekly gain for the first time in five weeks.

Stock are moving higher despite revised Commerce Department data showing the U.S. economy expanded at a 1% annual rate in the second quarter, even worse than the tepid 1.3% original estimate.

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-- Walter Hamilton