TradingMarkets 7 Stocks You Need to Know for Friday

Technology stocks lead the way as the battle for Yahoo! intensified and positive earnings news from DuPont and Wal-Mart helped lift Blue Chips.

The Dow fell +54.72, the Nasdaq Composite +29.58 and the S&P 500 +6.06.

Here are 7 Stocks You Need to Know for Friday:

The Wall Street Journal reported that AOL is nearing a deal with Yahoo!
(
YHOO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
aimed at thwarting Microsoft‘s
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
merger plans.

Shares of Millennium Pharmaceuticals
(
MLNM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
surged 49% after the company agreed to be acquired by Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceuticals for $8.8 billion.

DuPont
(
DD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
expects Q1 earnings of $1.29 per share, up from the previously estimated range of $1.14 to $1.19 and above consensus estimates of $1.17 per share.

Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reported March same-store sales increased 0.7%, in-line with the company’s guidance. However, WMT raised Q1 EPS guidance in the range of $0.74 to $0.76, above consensus estimates of $0.72.

After the close, Genentech
(
DNA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reported earnings of $0.84, beating estimates by $0.02.

Before the market open, General Electric
(
GE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is due to report earnings, with analysts looking for $0.51 per share.

Do you think Genentech will close up or down on Monday? Play TradingMarkets Up or Down Daily Stock Contest and you could win over $12,000 in cash prizes predicting the direction of a stock!