Stocks return to late 2007 level

The last time the stock market was this high, the Great Recession had just started, and stocks were pointed toward a headlong descent. But on Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average hit its highest mark since December 2007, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index soared to its highest level since January 2008 in a rally that seemed destined to mark a milestone: American stocks have come almost all the way back.