Stocks close mixed...

Dow +37
Nas -5
S&P +5

Ho hum....Looks like we are tied to whatever happens in Europe overnight.

Bernanke says EU crisis is solvable...

In a closed door meeting with Senate Democrats Fed chief Bernanke says the EU crisis is solvable, it's just up to policymakers to take the necessary steps. The key, he believes is just getting past the politics. Addressing the U.S. economy, the Chairman says the Fed has done what it could do, it's on Congress now.

That's not good.  Those clowns do nothing productive.

Stocks reporting before the open tomorrow...

Schlumberger (SLB)
Verizon (VZ)
Haliburton (HAL)
Air Products (APD)
McDonald's (MCD)
Manpower (MAN)

Notable stocks reporting after the close today...

Tempur Pedic (TPX)
Acme Packet (APKT)
Sandisk (SNDK)
Athena Health (ATHN)
Capitol One (COF)
Microsoft (MSFT)
Chipotle (CMG)
Informatica (INFA)

Transports say economy not that bad...

Two top rail execs are saying the U.S. is in a "slow growth environment" but not a recession. "I don't see a double-dip," Union Pacific's (UNP) Jim Young says; with inventory levels "as low as they've ever been," any spurt in consumer demand would pose an opportunity. CSX's (CSX) Michael Ward says the economy even shows signs of life.

The transport sector is rallying 1.5% today.

Greece passes austerity measures...market rallies...

As expected, the Greek parliament passes the latest austerity measures - including wage cuts and higher taxes - paving the way for the country to receive the next tranche of bailout money. The vote was 154 to 144. One member of the ruling PASOKs voted against, and was immediately kicked out of the party.

As a result stocks have moved higher:

Dow +59
Nas +1
S&P +8

Yesterday there were riots in the streets over passing this...I don't think this positive reaction is going to hold.

Food prices rising...

Wholesale food prices are "on pace to post their strongest annual increase in more than three decades,” National Restaurant Association's Bruce Grindy writes. Food costs are already up 7.8% this year, and if the trend holds, they will have soared 26% in five years. So far, grocers have been passing along more of those increases to customers than restaurants.

I'm getting a little tired of this Euro thing...

Anyone else???

We need to get some sort of solution over there so we can move on.

EU Summit follow-up meeting next Wednesday...

Now, the news is that the EU summit will happen on Sunday, and that a follow-up EU summit, probably scheduled for next Wednesday, is in the works.  This weekend's gathering may not accomplish as much as hoped, reports the FT. "There will be no agreements (Sunday) ... this will now happen Wednesday at the earliest," says a German official.

Whatever, at least stocks and the euro are rallying a bit on this news.

At 1:15 pm:

Dow -28
Nas -20
S&P -1

Stocks slip on possible EU summit cancelation...

As news came out that the EU may cancel their summit planned for this weekend, stocks have started falling.

Dow -101
Nas -41
S&P -10

Looks like steel stocks are the only group moving higher.  Gold and Silver are breaking down, as they have been tracking the strength of the Euro.  When the Euro falls, so does gold and silver.  Not sure why, other than there were rumors that European banks were heavily invested in Gold and Silver.

Here's a look at the Gold and Silver ETF's:

Gadhafi killed...

Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, the most wanted man in the world, has been killed, Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said today.

The flamboyant tyrant who terrorized his country and much of the world during his 42 years of despotic rule was reportedly cornered by insurgents in the town of Sirte, where Gadhafi had been born and a stronghold of his supporters.

"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Moammar Gadhafi has been killed," Jibril said at a news conference in Tripoli.

Stocks looking good on open...

Stocks are moving higher after taking a break yesterday.

Dow +55
Nas -2
S&P +6

Tech stocks are holding the averages back but are starting to strengthen in the last 15 minutes.

I've been reading alot of pessimistic views of the latest rally...which is exactly what we want.  Climb that Wall of Worry!!!

Wynn gets hit on earnings...

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN). The casino operator swung to a quarterly profit as revenue at its Wynn Macau unit soared 42 percent, but it won less money than usual in Las Vegas. Adjusting for one-time items, Wynn earned $1.05 per share in the third quarter. The company's quarterly net revenue rose 30 percent to $1.3 billion from a year earlier. 


Wynn is down 7 to 123 on the news.

eBay gives cautious guidance...

EBay Inc. (EBAY). The operator of the largest online marketplace reported profit that matched Wall Street estimates and gave a restrained outlook for the rest of the year because of economic uncertainty. EBay reported third-quarter net income of $490.5 million, or 37 cents a share and forecasts fourth-quarter profit of 55 cents to 58 cents a year.

eBay is selling off on the earnings...the stock is down 1.38 to 31.81

This looks like an opportunity to "Buy".  Remember, earlier in the week, the company was talking about how earnings from PayPal was expected to grow.

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades...

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Thursday morning.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Changyou.com Limited (NASDAQ: CYOU) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE: CLB) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.

CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Maintained long-term outperform and near-term hold at Zacks; reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Herbalife (HLF: NYSE) Reiterated Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH) named value stock of the day at Zacks.

Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray; Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.

Regency Centers Corporation (NYSE: REG) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Western Union (NYSE: WU) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Youku.com Inc. (NYSE: YOKU) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs

American Express beats but heads lower...

American Express Co. (AXP). The company posted higher-than-expected quarterly net earnings as cardholders spent more, but expenses grew faster than revenue. The company said third-quarter net income rose to $1.2 billion, or $1.03 per share and total revenue, net of interest expenses, rose 9 percent to $7.57 billion.


AXP is down 1.05 to 45.08 in premarket trading.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals beats and raises...

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN). The company posted a more than two-fold rise in net quarterly profit that also topped market estimates, helped by strong global sales of its genetic disorder drug, and raised its full-year view for the second time in less than a month. For the third quarter, the company reported a net income of $65.6 million, or 34 cents a share, compared with $27.9 million, or 15 cents a share, a year ago. The company now sees 2011 earnings of $1.25-$1.28 excluding items, up from earlier outlook of $1.15-$1.20.

ALXN is up 4.00 to 70.03 in premarket trading.

ALXN is Investor's Business Daily's number 1 rated stock.

Good morning...

Stocks on Wednesday wiped out most of the prior day's gains after a glum report on the U.S. regional economies triggered broad selling in the last two hours of trade. Volume, however, was mixed.

For what looks to be a confirmed rally now in its second week, the number of stocks breaking out to new highs is still disappointing. The new highs list still lacks beef.

I'll be pointing out stocks that break out...we would like to see that number increase in the coming weeks.