TradingMarkets 7 Stocks You Need to Know for Thursday

Stocks rallied late in the day, with the Dow leading and the VIX moving lower for the second day in a row. The Dow ended Wednesday up 45.68. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher by 5.46. And the S&P 500 finished ahead by 5.49.

Here are 7 Stocks You Need to Know for Thursday

Dow Chemical (DOW | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) announced its decision to raise prices on all products by as much as 20% by the first of June to deal with rising commodity costs.

Hedge fund manager David Einhorn claimed that the $6 billion raised by Lehman Brothers (LEH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) will not be enough to cover the company's credit-related losses.

Reporting earnings before the bell on Thursday, Costco (COST | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) is expected to announce earnings per share of $0.65.

Shares of Dryships (DRYS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) were up more than 9% on Wednesday as the business of transporting commodities across international waters continues to benefit shippers.

Fears of sluggish advertising sales growth led investors and traders to sell shares of Viacom (VIA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) on Wednesday. The stock was down by more than 4% on the day.

Dell (DELL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) is scheduled to report earnings on Thursday after the close. Analysts are expecting EPS of $0.33.

Expedia (EXPE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) moved higher by more than 4% on Wednesday as speculation grew that Barry Diller, chairman of the company, would seek to take the company private.

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