Stocks Rise After Earnings, Drop in Jobless Claims

[dtotire]

Source: NYTimes

Stocks Rise After Earnings, Drop in Jobless Claims
Published: October 28, 2010


Filed at 9:50 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose Thursday after some positive earnings and a surprise drop in first-time claims for unemployment benefits.
Investors were encouraged by a batch of earnings from a wide variety of companies heavily reliant on selling products to consumers, including Dow Chemical Co., Eastman Kodak Co., Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. and Motorola Inc. The Dow Jones industrial average rose about 45 points in early morning trading.

Pharmaceutical companies Bayer AG and Sanofi-Aventis SA and automaker Hyundai Motor Co. kicked off a strong day of earnings worldwide, sending overseas markets higher before the U.S. market opened.

Mixed earnings over the past few days had helped grind a market rally to a halt after stocks were lifted earlier this month by upbeat corporate profits and outlooks. Avon Products Inc. and 3M Co. were among the companies whose results disappointed and their shares fell sharply.

Traders were also upbeat after a surprise drop in first-time claims for unemployment benefits bolstered hopes that companies might start ramping up hiring soon. The Labor Department said claims fell by 21,000 to 434,000 last week. Claims had been hovering around 450,000 throughout much of the year, which is considered a signal that employers aren't firing many people, but not hiring many either. Economists were expecting a small rise in claims last week.

more:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/10/28/business/AP-US-Wall-Street.html?_r=1&ref=aponline


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/10/28/business/AP-US-Wall-Street.html?_r=1&ref=aponline

[DavidDvorkin]

1. And now the DJIA is negative again

WTF?