Jim Cramer Blog

Here are 7 stocks for traders for Thursday from TradingMarkets.com:
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - News) beat earnings by a long-shot on Wednesday after the bell, announcing $1.14 EPS over an expected $0.78 EPS.
Sovereign Bancorp (NYSE:SOV - News) beat earnings on Wednesday afternoon; SOV reported $0.33 EPS over a consensus of $0.32 EPS. SOV's PowerRating is 6.
Amdocs (NYSE:DOX - News) beat earnings on Wednesday after the close, announcing $0.53 EPS over an expected $0.50 EPS. DOX's PowerRating is 5.
Bank of NY (NYSE:BK - News) reports earnings on Thursday before the bell; watch for $0.55 EPS. BK's PowerRating is 4.
Before opening bell Thursday morning, Continental Airlines (NYSE:CAL - News) will announce earnings, with analysts looking for -$0.15 EPS. CAL's PowerRating is 3.
Analysts are looking for Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER - News) to report $1.92 EPS on Thursday morning. MER's PowerRating is 5.
When UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH - News) reports quarterly earnings tomorrow morning, look for $0.85 EPS. UNH's PowerRating is 4.
PowerRatings are courtesy of PowerRatings.net

Labels: AAPL, BK, CAL, DOX, Hot Stocks, MER, SOV, UNH

Stocks rose Thursday as oil prices extended their decline but showed some signs of stability and as a drop in jobless claims to a six-month low indicated the economy wasn't slowing too quickly.
The respectable gains in stocks Thursday came after several sessions in which investors made small bets as they wrestled with whether stocks would eventually push higher with the same vigor as in 2006. Economic data, such as Thursday's unemployment figures, and oil prices, which have fallen for four straight days, have drawn the market's attention as investors try to piece together where Wall Street is headed.
The Labor Department said the number of newly laid off workers seeking unemployment benefits fell by 26,000 to 299,000 last week on a seasonally adjusted basis. It was the first time jobless claims have moved below 300,000 since the week of July 22.
Strength in employment indicates the economy is holding up well as it slows. However, investors want the economy to show some signs of gradual slowdown in order to wring a cut in interest rates from the Federal Reserve.
In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 54.07, or 0.43 percent, to 12,496.23.
Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 7.15, or 0.51 percent, at 1,422.00, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 15.90, or 0.65 percent, to 2,475.23.
Bonds fell as the drop in jobless claims pointed to a healthy economy. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.71 percent from 4.69 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude fell 19 cents to $53.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In corporate news, drug maker Genentech Inc. rose $2.36, or 2.8 percent, to $86.10 after reporting that robust demand for its cancer drugs helped push fourth-quarter profits up 75 percent.
Amdocs Ltd., a maker of customer-service software, fell $3.73, or 9.5 percent, to $35.60 after lowering its revenue forecast for 2007. The company cited lower-than-expected activity among its customers in the telecommunications industry.
Quest Software Inc., which makes application and database-management software, rose 44 cents, or 2.94 percent, to $15.43 after an analyst said the company likely had a strong fourth-quarter.
C-Cor Inc., which makes network distribution equipment for cable TV operators, rose 30 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $12.09 after predicting it will beat its fiscal second-quarter forecast.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 9.35, or 1.2 percent, to 788.22.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 278.3 million shares.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 0.62 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.50 percent, Germany's DAX index was up 1.47 percent, and France's CAC-40 was up 1.44 percent.
Published by Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer

Labels: DNA, DOX, QSFT

Stocks rose Thursday as oil prices extended their decline but showed some signs of stability and as a drop in jobless claims to a six-month low indicated the economy wasn't slowing too quickly.
The respectable gains in stocks Thursday came after several sessions in which investors made small bets as they wrestled with whether stocks would eventually push higher with the same vigor as in 2006. Economic data, such as Thursday's unemployment figures, and oil prices, which have fallen for four straight days, have drawn the market's attention as investors try to piece together where Wall Street is headed.
The Labor Department said the number of newly laid off workers seeking unemployment benefits fell by 26,000 to 299,000 last week on a seasonally adjusted basis. It was the first time jobless claims have moved below 300,000 since the week of July 22.
Strength in employment indicates the economy is holding up well as it slows. However, investors want the economy to show some signs of gradual slowdown in order to wring a cut in interest rates from the Federal Reserve.
In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 54.07, or 0.43 percent, to 12,496.23.
Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 7.15, or 0.51 percent, at 1,422.00, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 15.90, or 0.65 percent, to 2,475.23.
Bonds fell as the drop in jobless claims pointed to a healthy economy. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.71 percent from 4.69 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude fell 19 cents to $53.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In corporate news, drug maker Genentech Inc. rose $2.36, or 2.8 percent, to $86.10 after reporting that robust demand for its cancer drugs helped push fourth-quarter profits up 75 percent.
Amdocs Ltd., a maker of customer-service software, fell $3.73, or 9.5 percent, to $35.60 after lowering its revenue forecast for 2007. The company cited lower-than-expected activity among its customers in the telecommunications industry.
Quest Software Inc., which makes application and database-management software, rose 44 cents, or 2.94 percent, to $15.43 after an analyst said the company likely had a strong fourth-quarter.
C-Cor Inc., which makes network distribution equipment for cable TV operators, rose 30 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $12.09 after predicting it will beat its fiscal second-quarter forecast.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 9.35, or 1.2 percent, to 788.22.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 278.3 million shares.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 0.62 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.50 percent, Germany's DAX index was up 1.47 percent, and France's CAC-40 was up 1.44 percent.
Published by Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer

Labels: DNA, DOX, QSFT