Advance in US equities just starting

new york - Retailers erased their stock market losses since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and transportation companies doubled in a year, signs the advance in US equities is just getting started.

Amazon.com Inc and Gap Inc have wiped out declines of as much as 63 percent since the bear market began in October 2007 amid forecasts retailers' profits will increase 63 percent through 2012. The Dow Jones Transportation Average, where earnings are projected to almost triple in two years, is beating the Standard & Poor's 500 Index by 32 percentage points since March 2009, the widest gap for a rally since 1990.

Investors seeking signals equities will keep rising are finding them in industries most tied to the economy, the basis for a century-old forecasting technique known as Dow Theory. While bears say the gains aren't justified by earnings and that shares are climbing too fast, Stephen Lieber of Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC and David Darst of Morgan Stanley are buying on speculation the expansion will revive profit growth.