The Markets

Stocks ended slightly up today on mixed news, as techs did well but many financials struggled. "Tech is one of the few bright spots across a sluggish earnings quarter," a market strategist tells the Wall Street Journal . The Dow ended up 42.99 to 12,763.22, the Nasdaq 28.27 to 2,405.21, and the S&P 4.04 to 1,379.98. More »

Stocks fell today as oil prices soared and the flow of disappointing earning reports continued. Texas Instruments and UnitedHealth were both hit hard. "We're likely to see stocks continuing to be under pressure," one researcher told Bloomberg. The Dow was down 104.79 to 12,720.23, the Nasdaq 31.10 to 2,376.94, and the S&P 500 12.23 to 1,375.94. More »

Stocks ended mostly down today after a poor quarterly report from Bank of America and spiking crude prices. "We got a reminder this morning that banks and financials are still digesting credit problems," an investment strategist told the Wall Street Journal . The Dow ended down 24.34 at 12,825.02, the Nasdaq up 5.07 at 2,408.04, and the S&P 500 down 2.16 at 1,388.17. More »

A surprise hike in a widely used interest rate is expected to soon send many US borrowers reeling, the Wall Street Journal warns. The London interbank offered rate, a yardstick for financial instruments including resettable mortgages, jumped sharply yesterday. The increase, a signal that banks are becoming more cautious about lending, could affect $9 trillion in debt. More »

Stocks rallied to weekly gains today as the markets absorbed last night's strong earnings report from Google and industrial multinationals Caterpillar and Honeywell recorded unexpected first-quarter growth, Bloomberg reports. Google propelled the Nasdaq up 61.14 to close at 2,402.97. The Dow rose 228.87 to 12,849.36, and the S&P 500 climbed 24.77 to 1,390.33. All the indices saw 4%-5% weekly gains. More »

Google reported a 30% increase in first-quarter profits today, bettering analysts’ predictions and sending share prices up 17%, Bloomberg reports. Forecasters had assumed that growth in domestic advertising clicks would slow, but Google said it “remains healthy;” a 55% increase in international ad sales gave the search giant the bump it needed to exceed expectations. More »

EBay's revenue soared 24% in the first quarter, the Wall Street Journal reports, with profits up 22%. Fueled by continued success with its online auction business and PayPal, its online-payment component, the company also raised its projected 2008 earnings to $8.7 billion to $9 billion, well beyond Wall Street expectations. More »

Stocks staged a rally today on the strength of profit reports from JP Morgan and Intel. "The bear market is bottoming, and folks are beginning to look beyond the valley of widely known problems to better times ahead," a strategist tells the Wall Street Journal . The Dow ended up 256.80 to 12,619.27, the Nasdaq 64.07 to 2,350.11, and the S&P 30.28 to 1,364.71. More »

Consumer prices rose an anticipated 0.3% in March, propelled by hikes in the costs of energy, food, and airline tickets; a commodities rush and weak dollar also pushed crude oil to a record high today. Energy costs rose 1.9% in March, the AP reports, and the past year has seen huge increases in the prices of bread (14.7%) and milk (13.3%) More »

Hopeful economic indicators outweighed surging crude prices today, and stocks responded with a modest rally. "There's a little bit of investor optimism cropping up here to hold the market together," a strategist told the Wall Street Journal . The Dow ended up 60.41 at 12,362.47, the Nasdaq up 10.22 at 2,286.04, and the S&P 500 up 6.11 at 1,334.43. More »

The buying and selling of the world's wealth is at the mercy of aggressive men and their hormonal fluctuations, neuroscientists have discovered. While that doesn't come as a big surprise, the study isolates the major role that testosterone plays in making boorish traders exceptionally bullish—and the part the hormone cortisol plays in slumps, reports the Daily Telegraph . More »

Stocks wobbled today, eventually posting modest losses as investors still processing GE’s poor results absorbed Wachovia's unexpected losses and steeled themselves for more disappointment from first-quarter earnings reports. The Dow ended the day down 23.36 at 12,302.06, the Nasdaq dropped 14.42 to 2,275.82, and the S&P 500 fell 4.51 to 1,328.32. More »

The markets went into a tailspin today after GE shares declined 13%—the company's worst performance since the 1987 crash, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow fell 256.56 points to close at 12,325.42, the Nasdaq dropped 61.46 points to 2,290.24, and the S&P 500 shed 27.72 to settle at 1,332.83. More »

Stocks rallied despite a generally unfavorable climate today on positive news from Intel and Wal-Mart, though, with the exception of the Nasdaq, failed to hold on to session highs. The Nasdaq rose 29.58 to close at 2,351.70. The Dow, up triple-digits during the session, ended 54.72 higher at 12,581.98; the S&P 500 gained 6.06 to close at 1,360.55. More »

For the first time since China unpegged its currency from America’s in 2005, a dollar bought less than 7 yuan at closing today in Beijing, the New York Times reports. Western countries protested for years the yuan was undervalued; its meteoric rise means Chinese goods are getting more expensive in the US—raising inflation fears. More »

Stocks fell today on bad news on earnings and record prices for crude oil. American Express, General Motors, and UPS all took hits. "The negative UPS news could shake confidence in the broader transport stocks," an analyst tells the Wall Street Journal . The Dow ended down 49.18 to 12527.26, the Nasdaq 26.64 to 2322.12, and the S&P 11.05 to 1354.49. More »

Stocks fell today as the first-quarter earnings report season began with dismal results and a grim new report confirmed that the housing slump hasn't bottomed out, Bloomberg reports. Washington Mutual, freshly bailed out by TPG, led financials lower after it slashed its dividend 93%. The Dow fell 35.99 to close at 12,576.44, the Nasdaq 16.07 to 2,348.76, and the S&P 500 7.00 to 1,365.54. More »

Stocks were flat today after worries about coming first-quarter earnings reports kept a financial stocks rally from taking hold, MarketWatch reports. The Dow rose 3.01 to 12,612.42; the S&P 500 rose 2.14 to 1,372.54; and the Nasdaq was off 6.15 to close at 2,364.83. More »

Stocks ended mixed today as a commodities rally contrasted with disappointing employment news, the Wall Street Journal reports—though the major indices were up for the week. The Dow fell 16.61 to close at 12,609.42, up 3.2% for the week. The Nasdaq gained 7.68 points to 2,370.98, a weekly gain of 4.9%; the S&P 500 rose 1.09 point to 1,370.40, rising 4.2% for the week. More »

The markets finished with modest gains for the second consecutive session today. Investors, still digesting yesterday's testimony by Fed chief Ben Bernanke, shook off bad news on employment and got a lift from the tech sector. The Dow gained 20.20 points to finish at 12,626.03, the Nasdaq closed up 1.90 to 2,363.30, and the S&P 500 gained 1.78 to finish at 1,369.30. More »