Although investors appeared hesitant and positioned themselves ahead of corporate earnings reports, the Dow Jones industrial average inched closer to the 10,000-level before some afternoon weariness saw indexes sinking sharply.  At the end of the session that was characterized by slow trading, the Dow managed to notch up some gains to remain in contention for the 10,000 mark – a level it last breached nearly a fortnight after Lehman’s fateful collapse in September 2008. 

The Dow Jones industrial average, which rose as high as 9931.82 points in the morning, gained 20 points to close at 9885.80.  The broad S&P 500 index rose 4.70 points, or 0.44%, to close at 1,076.19 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day little changed.  Bond markets were closed for the Columbus Day holiday.  On the New York Stock Exchange, 16 stocks were higher in price for every 14 that fell.

Eight of the ten

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Markets advanced Monday morning, with oil reaching a 6-week high above $73 a barrel, a rally in European stocks after Royal Philips Electronics announced its glowing earnings report, and a general sense of economic recovery. Going into a foreseeably light Columbus Day of trading, a weaker dollar has pushed all major energy and commodities sectors notably higher, extending last week’s gains, in anticipation of an onslaught by a spate of Q3 earnings data over the next few weeks.

Intel is poised to offer solid earnings data Tuesday afternoon and many investors are expecting a bullish Q4 outlook from the company, setting a positive tone for chip manufacturers. Fairchild Semiconductor (FCS) and Cypress Semiconductor (CY) data will be out before Thursday’s markets open with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) posting its report after the close. Nokia, IBM and Google will also report Thursday with JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 12, 2009 – Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week’s list includes Intel (INTC), Goldman Sachs (GS), Google (GOOG), Fairchild Semiconductor International (FCS) and Safeway (SWY). To see more earnings analysis, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=3207.

Every day, Zacks.com makes 4 stock picks available, free of charge. To see them, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5612.

This Week's Events

Large-cap companies will dominate the earnings headlines this week.

Six Dow components, including Intel (INTC), are scheduled to release third-quarter results. Joining them will be Goldman Sachs (GS) and Google (GOOG). In total, we have confirmed reports from 72 companies, 29 of which are in the S&P 500.

There will be quite a bit of economic data published, including CPI and industrial production and capacity utilization. We will also get the minutes from

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Good day...And what a day it was! As I stated in yesterday's Pfennig, Columbus day is just sort of a holiday for the markets. These 'semi-holidays' can create some volatile trading, as not all of the markets are open and many desks are short staffed. So with the Federal Reserve and the banking system closed, the equity markets had the largest one day gain in over seven decades.

U.S. stocks yesterday (Monday) staged their biggest rally since the Great Depression – with the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring an all-time record 936 points – on a Federal Reserve-led push to flood the ailing global financial system with dollars and on a U.S. government plan to buy stakes in banks.

U.S. stocks yesterday (Monday) staged their biggest rally since the Great Depression – with the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring an all-time record 936 points – on a Federal Reserve-led push to flood the ailing global financial system with dollars and on a U.S. government plan to buy stakes in banks. The rally was sparked by commitments from the major financial nations to cooperate in getting the credit markets functioning again, and by news that U.S. officials were putting the finishing touches on Washington’s version of a rescue plan under which the U.S. Treasury Department will invest an estimated $125 billion in nine major U.S. banks, and another $125 billion in smaller financial institutions, Bloomberg News reported early this morning (Tuesday). The White House announced that U.S. President George W. Bush would meet at 7:30 a.m. EDT today with members ...

Bernanke gets help opening the spigot... Euro and Pound rally... Yen to continue to benefit from carry reversals... Aussie $ rallies... And Now... Today's Pfennig!

Having said they plan to “aggressively pursue” a “very fragmented” China and India paint and coating market for opportunities to expand, it appears Sherwin Williams (SHW) may be close to announcing another acquisition.