
TOKYO -- Optimism continues to rise here amid global market upturns powered by robust earnings and big piles of cash. But investors may want to watch out for a couple of clouds that threaten to rain on the stock market parade.
The Nikkei Stock Average advanced 26.93 points Wednesday to 21,363.05, extending its gains to 12 sessions. That achievement was just one day shy of the longest winning streak recorded in February 1988, during the good old days of the stock and real estate bubble.