For quite some time now with the economy in a slow but steady recovery, the dollar has been getting stronger and stronger, something that happens in a good economy and is usually considered very good news.  And for quite some time now, due to Wall Street's extensive overseas exposure, the strong dollar has been considered a bad thing, causing massive sell offs, due to the fact that it makes it harder for other countries to buy the products of our multinational firms, thereby potentially impacting revenues and earnings.  The dollar reached a multi-year height this year but for whatever reason, as it occasionally and momentarily does, it softened today.  Suddenly investors are awakened to all the profits multinational companies might now make and the Dow went zooming up 191 points.  Also adding to the optimism was a dip in unemployment claims, a general consensus that there will be no interest rate hikes until September at earliest, and the S&P reaching a new all-time high with 22 new points.  So once again the market had a big rally based on the thinnest of good news, just as the big sell offs earlier this month were based on the thinnest of bad news?  When will all this craziness end?  Today's expert summed it up beautifully with remarks to the effect -- it's pretty obvious there will be no rate hikes for a while, so why have we spent two years fretting about this (with all the subsequent volatility such irrational fretting has produced) and why can't we just focus on the fact that the economy is steadily improving?  I often don't agree with the daily expert opinion on Reuters but this guy got it right on.  Volume was just about on target with averages at 6 billion.

Markets | Thu May 14, 2015 4:39pm EDT

S&P 500 ends at record high as dollar loses ground

BY NOEL RANDEWICH

DJ:    18,252.24  +191.75     NAS:      5,050.80  +69.10        S&P:      2,121.10  +22.62

(Reuters) U.S. stocks ended sharply stronger on Thursday and the S&P 500 closed at a record high as investors worried less about interest rates and a weaker dollar offered the possibility of stronger sales for U.S. multinationals.

The S&P 500 .SPX gained 22.62 points, or 1.08 percent, to end at 2,121.1, exceeding its previous all-time high close of 2,117.69 on April 24. The Nasdaq Composite had its strongest day since January.

After oscillating in what many investors view as a range for much of the past three months, the S&P's gain in 2015 now stands at 3 percent.

The dollar moved to its lowest since January against a basket of currencies of major U.S. trading partners - good news for companies that have large foreign sales.

A report showing a dip in initial claims for state unemployment benefits last week did little to change broad expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would not increase interest rates before the second half of 2015 at the earliest.

"There's a 50-50 chance they're not going to raise rates this year, so why are we spending two years discussing this? Let’s focus on the fact that the economy is doing okay,” said Steve Goldman, principal of Goldman Management in Short Hills, New Jersey. "The path of least resistance is higher.”

Wall Street's top banks expect the Federal Reserve to begin raising interest rates in September, according to a Reuters poll last week.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 191.75 points, or 1.06 percent, to end at 18,252.24.  The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 69.10 points, or 1.39 percent, to 5,050.80. 

All of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with the tech index's .SPLRCT 1.73 percent rise leading the way. Apple (AAPL.O) shares rose 2.33 percent, making the stock the biggest driver on both the Nasdaq and S&P 500.

Apple's quarterly dividend, which many shareholders reinvest, was payable on Thursday.

Avon Products (AVP.N) briefly jumped as much as 27.4 percent after a regulatory filing from a firm said it had offered to buy the cosmetics company for nearly three times its market value. Avon said it had not received an offer.

Shake Shack (SHAK.N) fell 4.18 percent to $65.50 after the hamburger chain reported a surprise adjusted quarterly profit. The stock debuted in January at a listing price of $21.

The S&P 500 posted 31 new 52-week highs and 5 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 101 new highs and 29 new lows.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,339 to 744, for a 3.14-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,909 issues rose and 861 fell, for a 2.22-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

"When you get those kinds of advance-decline numbers, that means there's a lot of buying. That's what impresses me on days like today," said Frank Gretz, a technical analyst at Wellington Shields & Co, a brokerage in New York. "A day like today clears the air to the upside."

About 6.0 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, below the 6.3 billion average for the last five sessions, according to BATS Global Markets.