• Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) reported better-than-estimated third quarter earnings of 45 cents, ahead of Zacks estimates of 33 cents as revenues soared 28% to $5.45 billion, up from estimates of about $5 billion. For the fourth quarter the firm said it expects revenues of $8.125-$9.125 billion

• American Express (NYSE:AXP) reported earnings of 44 cents for the third quarter, versus Zacks estimates of 36 cents, as revenues of $6 billion were ahead of estimates of $5.9 billion. Consolidated loss provisions declined 13% to $1.2 billion

• Dover (NYSE:DOV) reported 10 cent better-than-projected earnings of 58 cents a share on inline revenues of $1.5 billion, down 23.7% y/y • Honeywell (NYSE:HON) reported third quarter earnings of 76 cents a share, beating Zacks estimates by 4 cents a share, as revenues of $7.7 billion, off 17%, were below estimates of $7.91 billion

• Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:IR) beat Zacks estimates by 9 cents on earnings of 70 cents. Revenues

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After sliding for two successive days, stocks managed to find some footing and ended Thursday with impressive gains as companies from McDonald’s to PNC Financial reported solid quarterly earnings.  A mixed bag of economic reports notwithstanding, the Dow average once again scaled the 10,000 mark as components Travelers Cos, 3M Co., and AT&T Inc. posted stronger-than-expected results.

Investors, looking for bargains, picked up financial shares as many banks noted lower loan losses.  Travelers (NYSE:TRV) surged almost 8% after reporting a three-fold jump in quarterly profit.  Travelers, together with McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), led the Dow average higher.  AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), also a Dow component, rose 0.6% after reporting better-than-expected profit.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 132 points, or 1.3%, to close at 10,081.31 and the S&P 500 index rose 11 points, or 1%.  The tech-heavy NASDAQ, limited by late-session, downward guidance from eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY), gained 14 points, or 0.7%.

The

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The VDMA Group (an industrial association in Europe, representing small/medium sized companies in the engineering industry) said last week that German machinery producers do not expect an increase in output in 2010. The group said that more than two-thirds of producers in Germany are complaining about lack of orders. The VDMA group forecasts a 20% year-over-year drop in machinery and factory equipment output for 2009 due to weak orders. For 2010, the group forecasts similar production levels as 2009. According to the recent data released by the group, machinery and equipment orders for the month of July fell 43% compared to last year. Domestic demand was down 41%, while international orders declined 44% for the month. The industry’s production capacity stood at just 69% in July. However, Germany, the world’s largest exporter, is witnessing improved order levels from developing economies, particularly China. According to VDMA, China ...

• Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) reported second quarter earnings of 68 cents a share, a nickel above projections, on in-line revenues of $5.53 billion, off 18.1%

• Black and Decker (NYSE:BDK) posted second quarter earnings of 63 cents a share, which beat estimates by 26 cents, on in-line revenues of $1.19 billion, off 27.4%

• Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:IR) reported second quarter earnings of 50 cents a share, 11 cents better than expected, as revenues increased 12.8% to $3.47 billion.  The company said it sees third-quarter earnings of 55 cents to 70 cents a share, versus estimates of 52 cents; full-year guidance of $1.50-$1.80 exceeded Street estimates of $1.32

• Dover (NYSE:DOV) reported second quarter earnings of 54 cents a share, 8 cents above estimates, on in-line revenues of $1.4 billion, off 30%

• Ashland (NYSE:ASH) reported fiscal third quarter earnings of $1.10 a share, 9 cents higher than projected, on in-line revenues of $2.04 billion, off 7.5%

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U.S. stocks are continuing their upward march on growing belief that the economy is turning a corner as better-than-expected earnings from companies continue to impress investors.  After a four-week retreat, benchmark gauges have leapt forward as the appetite to assume risk has grown significantly.  Safe-havens like treasuries have come under pressure as investors have committed more money into stocks. 

On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 188 points, or 2.1%, and closed at its highest point since November 5; the broad-based S&P 500 index rose to its highest in eight months, jumping 22 points, or 2.5% and the Nasdaq surged 47 points or 2.5%, closing higher for the twelfth consecutive session.  The tech-heavy index recorded its best performance since 1992.  Treasuries declined, with the 10-year off 31/32 and the corresponding yield up to 3.665%.

Although much of the earnings growth has been driven by cost-cutting measures, it has

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Machinery and Industrial Equipment Orders Drying Up in EuropeAccording to data released by the VDMA Group (an industrial association in Europe, representing small/medium sized companies in engineering) earlier today, machinery and factory equipment orders in May 2009 declined 48% year-over-year in Germany, Europe's biggest economy. However, this was an improvement over the year-over-year decline of 58% witnessed in April.Orders from Germany were down 42%, while those from other countries were down 51% during the month. This decline was attributed to the delay and/or cancellation of orders by industrial customers due to the lack of positive sentiment about the economy and their businesses. Orders for the March-May period were down 47%, compared to the prior-year period.Companies like Caterpillar (CAT), Terex (TEX) and Ingersoll-Rand (IR), providing machinery and industrial equipment, have been ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 17, 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: Illinois Tool Works (ITW), Honeywell (HON), Ingersoll Rand (IR), American International Group (AIG) and Citigroup (C).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:

Slack in the Industrials System

If one digs deeper and looks at Capacity Utilization (CU) by stage of production, it fell at all three levels. There is the least slack in the system at the Crude level at 77.7%, but it was down from 78.5% in

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Smart Money Betting on Heavy Machinery Stocks Gaining in 2009

Joe Kunkle, The Investment U Research Team

One of the greatest assets you can have as a trader or investor is having the ability to spot trends, and use that information to draw conclusions about what will occur in the future.

I have long used the options market as a way of watching where the “smart money” is making bets. It has allowed me to foresee the collapse of financial stocks and the re-emergence of oil and commodity related stocks.

And from the signals I’m seeing, we may be on the verge of another big move.

Over the past few weeks, large volume bullish option trades have been indicating the expectation for a major recovery in heavy machinery stocks for the third quarter of 2009.

But we can’t really understand the significance of these

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The initial first-quarter GDP reported was greeted with a great amount of fanfare, despite a terrible headline number. Though the economy contracted at a 6.1% pace - marking the first time we have booked back to back quarters of down 6% or more since the end of WWII - some of the details in the report showed reasons for optimism.

As an investor, I realize that you are less concerned with the details that economists seemingly over-analyze and more concerned with what the report means to your portfolio. So, today, I'm going to show you where some of the investment opportunities and risks lie in the current environment.

Consumers Opened Their Wallets

The biggest positive surprise in the report was that Personal Consumption Expenditures ("PCE") actually contributed 1.50 points to GDP.

Clearly, in the first quarter, consumers took advantage of discounted

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Although the early morning session saw a sell-off, traders swung into action as the day progressed, sending shares higher midday. However, prices dived as the S&P 500 approached its 850-level, and prices fell in the final hour of trading. Big-cap stocks showed weakness, as the DJIA declined 1.0%, while tech-laden Nasdaq inched up a meager 0.1% and the S&P 500 rose 0.8%. And shaky sentiment sent the CBOE Vix "fear factor" index up 2.6% to 38.10, and Treasury prices declined, as the 2-year eased 2/32 and its yield advanced to 0.969% and the 10-year fell 11/32 with its yield at 2.945%.

Among sector groupings, financials were the leading decliners with a 3.8% plunge; health care was off 1.4%, utilities declined 1.2%, oil and gas was down 1.2% and consumer goods was off 0.6%. On the upswing were industrials, up 1.3%, basic materials up 0.8%, telecommunications up 0.7%, technology up

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