With buyers back in action, US stocks rose to their fresh one-year highs and remained near their high points as optimism grew that an economic recovery, helped by solid third-quarter earnings reports and increased M&A activity, is on cards. 

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 96.28 points, or 0.96%, to close at 10,092.19.  The broader S&P 500 index jumped 10.23 points, or 0.94%, to 1,097.91 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 19.52 points, or 0.91%, to 2,176.32, its highest point since September 26, 2008.  Market breadth was positive, with advancing shares ahead of decliners by a margin of three-to-one.  Only five of the DJIA thirty declined in price.

After the close, iPhone maker Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) reported better-than-estimated numbers, fuelling hopes for the technology industry.  Last week Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Intel Corp’s (NASDAQ:INTC) numbers had come in above expectations.

Although there were some jitters last

It was a good Monday morning for Endo Pharmaceutical Holdings Inc as their shares rise in the stock market after an analysts upgraded the stock predicting better third quarter and full year results for Endo. The shares of Endo Pharmaceutical had been down for last few days but the stocks jumped up substantially after the upgrade was done and it provided great boost to the Endo Pharmaceuticals to make sure that they perform better and come out with good results in the near future too.

Analysts John Newman changed his rating for the Endo Pharmaceutical Holdings to Outperform and had set the price target of $27 per share. Newman has further stated that Endo Pharmaceutical will surely exceed the profit expectations of Wall Street once their testosterone injection Fortesta will

Is it time to buy a house? Depends…

If you need a place to live and want to own a house, why not? Prices in some areas are fairly reasonable. But if you’re speculating, our guess is that you’ll get a better deal if you wait.

Why? For the many reasons we have given you in these Daily Reckonings. House prices may be firming in some areas – that’s what the Case-Shiller numbers seem to show. But nationwide, they are probably headed down for quite a while longer.

Herewith, four reasons why:

First, as you know, this is a depression. It will probably be long. And deep. You wouldn’t know it from looking at the stock market or reading the news. The Dow went up another 114 points yesterday. Oil rose to $71. And the dollar – anticipating inflation – fell to $1.44 per euro.

But that’s what bounces are supposed to look like.

• Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) reported better-than-estimated earnings of $1.29 a share, 13 cents above estimates, after yesterday's market close, as the company benefited from its arthritis drug and tax benefits.  The firm raised its full-year earnings outlook to $4.80-$4.95 per share from $4.55-$4.75 per share and consensus estimates of $4.57

• This morning’s report indicate Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) and GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) have agreed to jointly market an osteoporosis treatment, that could generate $2 billion in annual sales within ten years if given regulatory approval

• Barclays (NYSE:BCS) cut Boeing (NYSE:BA) shares to "equal weight" from "overweight", on delays and undetermined cost overruns in its Dreamliner program. Price targets were cut from $60 to $46

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) raised its rating on the US steel sector to "buy" from "neutral," noting a faster-than-expected recovery in world markets and a leaner US supply chain. Analysts upgraded US Steel (NYSE:X) in advance of today's earnings release to