Make it 9 triple digit days in a row...

Stocks close at their highs of the day as we get a nice run up in the last hour of trading.  No doubt, the gains were helped by shorts covering their positions ahead of tomorrow morning's weekly jobs report.

Dow +183
Nas +46
S&P +20 to 1164

Banks had a strong day as several statements (Fleckenstein and Geitner) made shorts run for the exit.

Tomorrow is an important day.  It would be nice to continue this rally as we head into a long weekend...and in advance of next weeks earnings releases.

WalMart unveils layaway plan...

Wal-Mart (WMT) unveils its layaway plan - designed to keep up with peers jumping on the layaway bandwagon. A 10% down payment on a total minimum layaway amount of $50 must be made, with items to be paid in full before Dec. 16. Where WMT rakes in money: A $5 non-refundable service fee applies, as well a $10 charge for items cancelled or not picked up or paid for on time.

Birinyi screen of value...

Lazlo Birinyi screens S&P 1500 stocks to uncover a list of 8 stocks trading with a dividend yield higher than its P/E ratio. Though analysts with the firm say the method isn't a "foolproof" way to find undervalued stocks, they do call it an "interesting starting point." Stocks:

RR Donnely RRD
Pitney Bowes PBI
Deluxe Corp. DLX
United Online UNTD
Apollo Investment AINV
US Mobility USMO
Lincoln Educational Services LINC
Prospect Capital PSEC

Geitner's comments helps Banks...

Timothy Geithner’s comments to the Senate Banking Committee that there is “absolutely” no chance that another U.S. financial institution would fail is music to Bank of America (BAC +6%), Morgan Stanley (MS +3.8%) and other bank stocks (XLF +1.4%). “The direct exposure of the U.S. financial system to the countries under the most pressure in Europe is very modest," the Secretary says.

Will Steve Jobs death hurt Apple???

My guess is YES.  Maybe not in the short term...the firm has a great deal of momentum with all of their "cool" products.  However, in the long term, I cannot imagine the company's creativity and ability to predict the future needs of consumers will not suffer. 

The question is "what new product will they come up with next?"  They have had a string of winners starting with the iPod, leading to the iPod touch, the iPhone, and now the iPad.  The iMac (computers) have ridden on the coat-tails of these other products.

Steve Jobs was a rarity.  Those kind of creative minds do not come around too often.

At 1:00 pm...

Stocks are holding on to earlier gains. 

Dow +76
Nas +25
S&P +10

The move is broad as every major group is higher.  My guess is that traders who were short are starting to cover as we move closer to earnings reports which start next week. 

Fed Ex says no recession...

As chief of economic bellwether FedEx (FDX), when Fred Smith speaks, people listen. And he's saying there's no recession looming: "We don't see a contraction. We don't see a recession... It's steady as you go, slow growth."

Fed Ex is currrently up 0.59 to 70.95

The stock was at 98.63 back in July.

Obama speaking about jobs bill...

and get this....the market is not selling off.

That's it!!!

We are definitely going higher.  If we were still in the bearish mode, stocks would be selling off right now.

At 11:00 am...

Stocks are posting gains.  I think this is key as we have had two straight days of gains, some bad news overnight and we are still climbing. 

Dow +28
Nas +16
S&P +5 to 1148

Banks are starting to rally, gold and silver, oil and gas, tech, and commodities are all moving higher.

Fleckenstein turns bullish on U.S. Banks...

Professional bear Bill Fleckenstein turns bullish on banks. "I'm going to risk looking really stupid. I think the drama in the U.S. banks is overdone .. Lots of people who didn't see 2008 coming are now sure they will see a replay. If the ECB starts to print finally, we will see an absolutely hellacious rally."

JPM cuts Exxon and Chevron...

JPMorgan cuts its ratings on Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) to Underweight from Neutral, as the two oil companies have outperformed the price of oil and their peers but the stocks are now "less favorably positioned."

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades...

These are some of this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen having an impact from Wall Street research calls.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair; Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse; Raised target to $90 at Argus.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Maintained Neutral but cut estimates and target to $87 at Credit Suisse.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) maintained Neutral but target to $4 from $10 at Credit Suisse.
News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS.A) Removed from the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Reiterated Outperform on Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) Raised to Buy at Argus.
PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ: RYAAY) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) Cut to UNderperform at BofA/ML.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

Sprint to offer iPhone...

Sprint Nextel (S). The mobile provider plans to offer customers who buy the Apple Inc (AAPL) iPhone its unlimited data service for a flat monthly fee, potentially putting pressure on bigger rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc (T).

BAC explains website outage...

Bank of America Corp. (BAC). The bank said an ongoing upgrade and heavy traffic was behind six days of problems with its banking website, easing concerns about possible hacking.

Oh...OK.  Thanks for the explanation.  That makes me feel better.

Express Scripts cuts forecast...

Express Scripts Inc. (ESRX). The company cut its 2011 profit forecast as the U.S. pharmacy benefit manager projects fewer members filling prescriptions because of the weak economy.

...and the loss of the Walgreens account.

ESRX stock is currently up 3 points premarket on this news...makes sense.

Good Morning...

As for the markets, U.S. stock index futures are pointing to a slightly higher open this morning, following a second straight day of gains Wednesday.

Highlighting the market's recent volatility is the fact that the Dow has registered triple digit moves in eight straight sessions and 10 of the past 11.

There's no shortage of economic data and market-moving events as investors await the September jobs report tomorrow morning.

The earnings calendar remains light ahead of the upcoming earnings season (which starts next week), with Constellation Brands (STZ) the only company of note set to issue quarterly numbers this morning.

The Great Steve Jobs dies...

Apple's visionary Steve Jobs dead at 56

Steve Jobs, the transcendent Silicon Valley entrepreneur who reinvented the world's computing, music and mobile phone industries and changed the daily habits of millions around the globe, died on Wednesday at the age of 56.

I was shocked when I saw the news.  My first thought was maybe this was the reason for the Apple iPhone 4S announcement on Tuesday...one last announcement for Steve.

Don't forget, Jobs also started PIXAR, the great computer animation studio that put out Toy Story 1,2 and 3, A Bugs Life, Monsters Inc., Cars and Finding Nemo.  Wow!!!

His creativity has touched all of our lives.  He will be missed.