the company reported a moreri tn 30 in profits. thanks to a surge in consumer spending. the ceo said he's pleased with how the company has performed so far this year, in the face of mounti competition. shares of american express popped in initi after hours trading. >> american express's results rading et the tone for tomorrow, just as ibm did today, althgh maybe to the other side. the dow finished lower, down 38 points at 24,748. the nasdaq added 14. the s&p 500 was up jtwt today's small moves notwithstanding, volatility hass returned to thck market and the ceo of goldman sachs said today, that meansar thets are behaving more normally. >>onditions where interest rates are zero, yield curves are flat, there's no risk premium, where central banks all aroun the world are buying all the risky assets. which then trefore put a damper on volatile if i and the opportunitiesoro pe that's not a natural state. we have not reversed all of at but we're walking that back and walking to, so at the first indications of a withdrawal from again what is an unnatural state, guess what, the