The Dow Jones industrial average shot past 13,000 for the first time today, powered by rising earnings and better-than-expected economic data, the Associated Press reported.

The Dow surged past the milestone shortly after the opening of trading, and continued rising to 13,036.99 before retracing some of its steps.

The index received a boost from the U.S. Commerce Department’s report of better-than-expected durable goods orders last month, reassuring investors that demand for U.S. products remains strong.

It took the Dow just 129 trading days, since Oct. 18, to make the trek from 12,000 to 13,000, compared with the 7 1/2 years that the blue chips took to go from 11,000 to 12,000. But the swiftness of this latest trip does recall the days of the dot-com boom, when the major indexes were soaring and it took the Dow a mere 24 days to barrel from 10,000 to 11,000.