Stocks opened higher on Wall Street Wednesday morning following two days of tumult. After the Dow Jones industrial average took a 1,175-point nosedive on Monday, stocks plunged again Tuesday morning, but the market pulled off a late-afternoon rally, taking back some of the lost territory. Consumer-focused companies like Disney and Amazon made the most gains. Global trading also was calmer Wednesday, with markets in Germany, Britain, France, and Japan up slightly. But investors are still nervous: The VIX index, Wall Street’s “fear gauge” is currently double where it was two weeks ago.

Traders prepared for a wild ride Tuesday as stock markets around the world responded to Monday’s steep decline in U.S. markets. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 1,150 points Monday, its biggest decline in 6½ years. The selloff prompted fears the economic recovery had come to a screeching halt after years of record market growth. But analysts say U.S. economic fundamentals remain strong, prompting questions about what caused the sudden flurry of trading.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. government’s financial regulator, revealed late Wednesday that hackers breached its data systems last year, stealing information possibly used to make illegal trades. The SEC’s Edgar filing system includes corporate information on quarterly earnings and statements on mergers and acquisitions. Anyone privy to the information before it’s made public can use it to anticipate rises or declines in stock prices.

Propelled by positive results from Apple Inc., the Dow Jones industrial average rose above 22,000 for the first time Wednesday. Other market indicators such as the Nasdaq composite and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, which measure a broader spectrum of stocks, fell slightly Wednesday. The Dow tracks 30 big-name U.S. companies and was buoyed by Apple’s fiscal third-quarter results, which were better than anticipated. Apple stock climbed 5.6 percent after the announcement.

“Socialism is a system for saints. Democratic capitalism works because it’s a system for sinners.”

Over 50 years as a journalist, I’ve scribbled lots of forgettable quotes in my reporter’s notebook. But these 15 words were nothing if they weren’t both electric and memorable. They just kept leaping off the page.

All this was at the core of a 1983 interview I had with Michael Novak, who died Feb. 17 at his home in Washington at the age of 83.

WASHINGTON—Britain’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) after a historical referendum has wreaked economic havoc and divided politicians on Capitol Hill.

Just hours after the announcement of the narrow vote—with 52 percent in favor of leaving the EU—oil prices tumbled and the pound dropped to a 31-year low. The outcome shocked investors around the world as London’s stock exchange index dropped $164 billion in the first 10 minutes of trading. By the close of trading on Wall Street today, U.S. markets had suffered their worst loss since August 2015.

WILLISTON, N.D.—The Milky Way isn’t the only nighttime spectacle illuminating western North Dakota’s grasslands. Drive along U.S. Route 2, and you’ll pass dozens of blazing torches casting orange halos among the hills. Oil here is so abundant that energy companies drill wells without bothering to capture all the natural gas leaking from them. So they burn it off, in flares that sometimes streak sideways 10 feet in the wind.