Traders-Blog.com

For the second day in the row, the market was up due to positive earnings reports. The Dow was up by 37.03 points closing at 10,498.59 this afternoon. Additionally, the S&P rose 5.66 points closing at 1,174.07, while the Nasdaq gained 26.14 points to close at 2,046.09.

Stocks rose today as positive earnings reports were announced today. Texas Instruments Inc. announced unexpectedly high earnings for the fourth quarter due to the expansion of their company to sell their special chips to Samsung and other television manufacturers. Electronic Arts Inc., the largest video game maker in the U.S., announced a rise in quarterly profits of $1.23 per share exceeding the $1.18 expectations of Thompson. Lilly stocks rose today as the maker of the world’s top selling psychiatric drug, Zyprexa, reported a profit of 75 cents per share.

HealthSouth Corp.’s founder, Richard Scrushy, charge with conspiracy, money laundering, perjury, obstructing justice, false statements, securities fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud, suffered today as his former chief financial officer, Aaron Beam, reported that Scrushy asked him to “fix” their numbers in light of a possible revenue shortfall. With Beam’s testimony, the trial that began yesterday may end with Scrushy spending dozens of years in prison.

Once again the euro gained against the dollar Wednesday. Despite other market problems in the past weeks, the dollar had been holding its own to some extent, but today the Euro jumped against the dollar as a report from Germany, Europe’s largest economy, showed increased consumer confidence. Not only did the dollar lose in comparison with the euro, but also with the yen (ending at 103 yen), the Swiss franc, the British pound, and the Canadian dollar. Although the latter are not major concerns, increasing losses against the euro and yen may have major effects on investors.

In world news today, French president Jacques Chirac encouraged world leaders to come together to fight disease, famine and violence plaguing humanity around the globe. In his speech on the opening day of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, Chirac pushed rich countries to impose an international tax to help those less fortunate. British prime minister Tony Blair also joined the call to rich nations, suggesting that the U.S. and Europe put aside their differences to fight the greater battles that Chirac called these “silent tsunamis.” Blair said, “If America wants the rest of the world to be part of the agenda it has set, it must be part of their agenda, too. It can do so, secure in the knowledge that what people want is not for America to concede, but to engage.”

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter