Stocks Bounce, Bernanke Positive, Apple Crushes

Stocks ended their three day downward spiral on positive Bernanke affirmation news and earnings anticipation.  Several key Democrats offered their support to the Bernanke vote and the White House confirmed his likely reappointment.  Stocks mainly ignored atrocious housing figures focusing on upward earnings anticipation. Amgen missed estimates sending shares lower while Apple Inc. did not disappoint- beating most analysts’ projections after the bell.

The DJIA advanced +23.88 to 10196.86, the Nasdaq climbed by +5.51 to 2210.80 and the S&P 500 marched ahead by +5.02 to 1096.78.

^INTC^: The chip maker climbed 2.06% or 41 cents to $20.32/share after positive words in Barron regarding growth potential.

^TKTM^: The US Justice Department conditionally approved its merger with Live Nation sending shares higher by 15.79% to $2.10 to $15.40.

^AKS^: Soared 5.35% or $1.08 to $21.27/share after crushing analysts forecasts for fourth quarter adjusted profit.

^DGX^: Dropped 2.31% or $1.36 to $57.44/share after missing revenue estimates.

Oil added 58 cents to $75.12, gold advanced $5.50 to $1097.50 and the VIX index fell 6.92% to 25.42 after being up over 50% in over the last week.

Market Snapshot

Dow

+23.88 10196.86

NASDAQ

+5.51 2210.80

S&P 500

+5.02 1096.78
Economic
News

Net Long-Term TIC Flows (Nov): Consensus: $27.5B, Prior: $20.7B

Building Permits (Dec): Consensus: 580K, Prior: 584K

Housing Starts (Dec): Consensus: 575K, Prior: 574K

Core PPI (Dec): Consensus: 0.1%, Prior: 0.5%

PPI (Dec): Consensus: 0.0%, Prior: 1.8%

Initial Claims (01/16): Consensus: 440K, Prior: 444K

Continuing Claims (01/09): Consensus: 4600K, Prior: 4596K

Leading Indicators (Dec): Consensus: 0.7%, Prior: 0.9%

Philadelphia Fed (Jan): Consensus: 18.8, Prior: 20.4

Crude Inventories (01/15): Consensus: NA, Prior: 3.70M

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