Crazy last hour....

Stocks closed with gains, but fell off their highs in the last half hour of trading.  Here are the closing numbers:

Dow +140
Nas +40
S&P +15 to close at 1188

Some of our favorites made nice moves:

Perrigo (PRGO) +3.52 to 92.99
Crocs (CROX) +1.33 to 27.27
SXC Health +3.46 to 57.25
Cummins (CMI) +1.97 to 94.17
VMWare (VMW) +2.57 to 93.48

Stocks explode to the upside...

at 3:30 pm, stocks are taking off on optimism that Greece will resolve their debt crisis.  Default has already been built in, so shorts are getting caught with their pants down in here.

Dow +262
Nas +66
S&P +28 to 1200

1200 is that key level we keep bouncing around for the S&P.  A close above that would be positive technically.

BAC fires Chief Market Strategist for being too Bullish???

Bank of America (BAC) replaces its usually bullish chief market strategist David Bianco just one day after his call for S&P 1450 over the next 12 months.

This is incredible...

Healthcare Information stocks moving higher...

Here are a few that I follow:

SXC Health Solutions (SXCI) +1.80 to 55.59
Allscripts (MDRX) 0.55 to 18.15
Merge Healthcare (MRGE) +0.18 to 6.79

Looking for an Oil play???

Take a look at Carbo Ceramics (CRR).  Carbo Ceramics manufactures and sells proppant, a product used during the hydraulic fracturing of wells. The proppant is placed into the well along with the fluid and remains behind to hold open the fractures created in the rock. Most of the company's sales are of ceramic proppant, a more expensive product that the company markets as superior to other alternatives.

Q2 2011 Results

Carbo Ceramics reported a net income of $29.9 million, or $1.29 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2011. Revenues came in at $149.7 million for the quarter, a 34% increase over the second quarter of 2010. The company sold 387 million pounds of proppant in the quarter, a 23% year over year increase. This growth is expected to continue going forward as the consensus earnings estimates for the company is at $7.08 per share in 2012, up from $5.39 in 2011.

Stamps.com still breaking higher...

On Monday we looked at Stamps.com.  The stock is hitting New Highs again today.

It is currently up 2.12 to a 52-week high of 23.04

The all-time high was 34.00 set back in 2006.

Here is a chart:

At Noon stocks are positive...

Looks like stocks are shaking off weakness in Europe again.

Dow +38
Nas +22
S&P +6 to 1178

The tape is very positive.  Tech is up, Gold, Oil and Banks are down.

Just to show you some Bond yields....

Here are a few corporate bonds that just came across my desk:

JP Morgan Chase
Aa3 / A+ rated 
4.35% coupon
8/15/21 maturity
Price: 105.5
3.68 Current yield
Noncallable

Commonwealth Edison
Baa1/A- rated
3.40% coupon
9/1/21 maturity
Price: 102.5
3.10 current yield
Noncallable

Goldman Sachs
A1/A rated
6.25% coupon
2/1/41 maturity
Price at par 100
6.25 current yield
Noncallable

European stocks down...

European shares are dropping sharply - back to near flat following big early gains - after the Austrian Parliament fails to approve an upgrade of the European rescue fund.

Our markets sold off initially on this news, Dow was down 105+ points.

Let's see if we can shake this off and resume our move higher.

At 10:00 am....

Stocks are mixed...actually hanging tough in here considering the last two up days we have had.

Dow +11
Nas +15
S&P +2

Report on BP spill to be released today...

BP shares surge in the wake of a WSJ article that suggests blame for last year's Gulf of Mexico spill could be apportioned more widely than initially thought. Any indication that BP wouldn’t be held solely responsible for the accident reduces the chances of it being found grossly negligent.

BP stock is up 1.60 to 38.04 ion premarket trading.

Raymond James defends Silvercorp...

Raymond James is defending Silvercorp (SVM) following a fraud investigation from Canadian regulators, and a negative report from Alfred Little. The firm thinks a Chinese mine brought up in Alfred Little's report is a quality asset, and believes the recent decline in Silvercorp shares presents a buying opportunity.

We mentioned this story yesterday as Silvercorp's stock was falling.

More on Best Buy...

Best Buy (BBY) CEO Brian Dunn says the retailer's 1,100 stores still give it an advantage over online rivals. He hears the calls of investors to close stores, but says mixing a strong online assortment with store retailing is a "winning scenario in the long haul."

This Best Buy case is one to keep a close eye on.  I think this online vs. "bricks and morter" battle strikes right at the heart of our country's unemployment problem, which may or may not lead to more government programs to support those who are shut out by the closing of stores.    

Fitch downgrades Spain...

Fitch downgrades 5 Spanish regions and puts them on negative outlook, saying the move reflects "the sharp fiscal deterioration seen in recent years which has led to sharp increases in debt levels." Five other regions rated by Fitch are not downgraded, but are put on negative outlook.

Why is our market not reacting negatively to this news??? 

GE to redeem preferreds...

Dow component General Electric (GE) is also in the news, as it plans to redeem the preferred shares held by Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/A) for $3.3 billion. Those shares were bought by Berkshire during the 2008 financial crisis.

This is a sign of good health.

Ebay stealing from Craigslist???

Ebay (EBAY) could be a stock to watch today, following news that the Justice Department is probing alleged criminal activities by employees. They're suspected of taking information from Craigslist to develop a competing service.

Futures point to higher open...

Hey.  How about this.  Looks like we have shaken off all the doom and gloom out there, and we are looking for a third straight up day.

S&P futures currently up 8 points.