U.S. stocks ended mixed Wednesday after a late-session profit taking almost wiped off a 156-point rally in the Dow average that was fueled by the Fed’s encouraging assessment of the economy and its decision to keep interest rates low for an extended period.  The optimism was short-lived as investors appeared jittery ahead of the October jobs report on Friday. Fresh concerns over bank earnings resurfaced after the House of Representatives passed a bill curbing credit card rate increases.

After the house vote, financials slumped 1.5% and led the decliners among the S&P 500 industry groups.  Analyst Meredith Whitney noted the biggest U.S. banks may face declining values on home-loan bonds with government backing as the Fed moves towards ending its $1.25 trillion purchase program.  Whitney said bank earnings are far from approaching "normalcy," and will reflect regulatory changes for an extended period.  JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) fell 1.2% to $42.21 and

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The Dow Jones industrial average rose 61 points on Thursday as traders reacted to news that retailers last month had their first sales gain in more than a year.  A closely watched gauge of sales at major retailers rose 0.1% in September. Still, most stores posted sales declines -- though smaller than in recent months -- even as their figures are compared with last September when business plummeted as the financial meltdown ballooned.  While still tepid, it was the first monthly rise in the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs tally since July 2008. 

On Thursday, the European Central Bank and Bank of England left interest rates unchanged.  Sentiment also received a boost from domestic corporate borrowing, which rose for the eight straight week. 

The growing optimism surrounding consumer spending, which is crucial for an economic recovery, followed late Wednesday's good results from Alcoa.  The company surprised investors with

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U.S. stocks edged up slightly higher, after swinging back and forth in a narrow range, as investors preferred to remain on the sidelines.  After yesterday’s better-than-expected reports on housing and consumer confidence, investors looked for fresh signs to help restart a rally that has catapulted major indexes to multi-month highs. 

Yesterday, fifteen of the thirty DJIA components closed higher; 245 of the S&P500 closed up and 42 of the NASDAQ100 finished on higher ground.  Trading was subdued with NYSE volume of 1.05 billion well below last year's average of 1.49 billion.  The DJIA gained 4 points to close virtually flat at 9543; the NASDAQ and S&P500 each recorded gains of 0.01%.  Declining issues beat those that advanced eight to seven.  Treasuries were mixed after the government successfully auctioned $39 billion in five-year notes.  The Treasury is scheduled to auction $28 billion of 7-year notes today.

Five of the S&P500

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• Toyota (NYSE:TM) reported a June quarter loss of $819 million, reflecting sluggish US sales and a stronger yen, which offset cost-cutting measures and inventory decreases; however, the firm cut its loss forecast on the year by about 18% to $4.7 billion

• Xstrata, the world's fifth largest diversified mining group, reported a 77% fall in six month results to 38 cents a share adjusted from $1.66, although above estimates of 33.6 cents

• UBS (NYSE:UBS) reported a higher-than-expected second quarter loss of $1.32 billion, which was less than the prior quarter loss. The bank's Tier 1 capital ratio rose to 13.2% at quarter's end from 10.5% at the beginning of the quarter

• Vulcan Metals (NYSE:VMC) reported a second quarter earnings of 14 cents, ex-items, versus estimates of 20 cents a share, as revenues fell 29.3% from a year earlier to $721.9 million, off estimates of $759.1 million. The firm said it

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U.S. stocks continued their advance Tuesday as an optimism that housing market is showing signs of life offset concerns that sale of shares will hurt several lenders who plan to repay the bailout money.  Helping the sentiment further was the S&P 500's move above its 200-day moving average.  Stocks seesawed between gains and losses after the opening bell but the release of housing data helped cool nerves and the major indexes managed to end the day in positive territory.    

The National Association of Realtors' index for pending home sales continued its advance for the third month in a row, rising 6.7% in April.  At day's end, the Dow Jones industrial average managed a gain of 19 points or 0.2%, after briefly turning positive for the year.  The S&P 500 edged up 0.2% and Nasdaq gained 0.4%.  Volume on the NYSE remained light with 1.4 billion shares exchanging hands

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 29, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: D.R. Horton (DHI), Lennar (LEN), Weyerhaeuser (WY), Owens Corning (OC) and Allergan, Inc. (AGN).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579.

Here are highlights from Thursday's Analyst Blog:

New Home Sales Flat

With interest rates backing up sharply, it appears that the bulk of the work to bring the months of supply back to more normal levels will have to come from further reductions in new housing starts. This is bad news for the homebuilders like D.R. Horton (DHI) and

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But "Flat" Is Better Than "Flattened"New home sales in April were essentially flat with March, rising to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 352,00, from 351,000, a rise of 0.3%. Given that the 90% confidence interval for these numbers is 14.5%, that is about as close to unchanged as you will get.On a year-over-year basis, nationwide sales are down 34.0%. For the month, the Northeast and Midwest regions were unchanged, while a 1.9% increase in the huge South region offset a 3.8% decline in the West. On a year-over-year basis there is significant variation, with new home sales down 52.5% in the Northeast, but down just 25.4% in the South. The Midwest (-45.8%) and the West (-39.7%) fall in between.As a result, the already small Northeast region has fallen to the point of being almost insignificant, accounting for only 5.4% of all new ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 20, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Petrobras (PBR), Repsol YPF S.A. (REP), D.R. Horton (DHI), Weyerhaeuser (WY) and Masco (MAS).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579.

Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:

Petrobras Brings Good News

Yesterday, Petrobras (PBR) announced the finding of a new oil field, named BM-S-3, in the Santos Basin. This new block is close to the field BM-S-7, which Petrobras and Repsol YPF S.A. (REP) recently declared commercial feasibility. Even better, this

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Asian markets jumped to their seven-month high Tuesday, fueling confidence the global financial crisis is easing.  Investors also took heart from U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's comments that financial markets have stabilized.  However, Geithner noted recovery is going to take some time and unemployment picture is likely to remain grim.  Markets in Asia, nevertheless, showed increased appetite for risk with major indexes gaining 2% or more.  Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 2.8% and South Korea's benchmark Kospi jumped 3%.  The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong climbed 3.1%.  India's Sensitive Index managed to end the day with a meager 0.1% gain, after an unprecedented rally in stocks triggered a trading halt yesterday.

Pre-market futures suggest a higher opening on the Wall Street, following better-than-expected earnings from Home Depot (NYSE:HD), which reiterated full-year guidance and reported a 44% jump in profit despite lower sales.

On Monday, U.S. stocks rallied

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 15, 2009 - Zacks Equity Research highlights Petrobras (PBR) as the Bull of the Day and Liberty Interactive (LINTA) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on D.R. Horton (DHI), Whirlpool (WHR) and Fortune Brands (FO).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

We are changing our recommendation on Petrobras (PBR) ADRs from Hold to Buy. We like Petrobras for its positive production-growth profile, and the improving outlook for its downstream business.

Moreover, the discovery of the giant Tupi field opens up a new range of possibilities for the company in the long run. The continued growth in production is a trend that should prevail

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