Wells Fargo Lifts Stocks

Stocks soared at the open today, thanks to Wells Fargo’s announcement that it expects record first-quarter earnings, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow climbed 150 points, while the Nasdaq added 1.8% and the S&P jumped 2.3%. Wells Fargo was up more than 20%. A sterling jobs report didn’t hurt, either; initial jobless claims dropped 20,000 last week, the biggest drop this year, and twice what the Street expected. (More stock market stories.)