Guess (GES), a fashion concept whose related companies include Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), Gap (GPS), and Polo Ralph Lauren (RL), posted fourth-quarter results Wednesday after the bell. Adjusted income went up well over 40% to 96 cents per diluted share. According to Earnings.com, Wall Street believed 81 cents per share would be the bottom-line number.

Total net sales increased 14%. Same-store sales were up 5.3% (they were better by 2% if you look at the metric in constant dollars). Net cash from operating activities over the last twelve months experienced significant expansion.

U.S. stock futures were mixed Thursday morning ahead of several key readings on employment and inflation due out this morning. However, renewed concerns over the European nations' support for Greece in its debt crisis weighed on markets.

Stocks closed higher on Wednesday, continuing the steady climb of the past few weeks. But if world markets are any indication, Thursday might open lower as Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou said his country needs a firmer eurozone bailout plan. He warned his country would not be able to make planned deficit cuts unless it can borrow money cheaply. If it cannot get the euronations help, Greece may have to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund.

General Electric (GE) closed at $18.04. GE is scheduled to report Q1 on April 16. GE April put option implied volatility is at 30, June puts are at 27, September is at 30; below its six-month average of 33, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

eBay (EBAY) closed at $26.98. PayPal announced it plans to double the number of employees in the Asia Pacific region from 1,000 to more than 2,000 by the end of the year. EBAY April put volatility is at 30, July is at 34, versus its 26-week average of 34, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Shares of athletic giant Nike, Inc. (NKE) are up over 3% in after hours trading after the company posted better than expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter this afternoon.

As we noted in our earnings preview last night, analysts had forecast earnings of $0.89 per share for the quarter. Fueled by a 7% increase in sales during the quarter, Nike was able to outpace estimates and earn $1.01 per share. This marks the 11th straight quarter that Nike has been able to post better than expected quarterly earnings.

Hard disk drive manufacturer Seagate Technology (STX), first discussed here on July 8, 2010 at a price of $9.50, remains in an enviable position.

The company's demonstrated business model, and the calculation that traditional, desktop, bulky PCs will continue to dominate the computer market for the next 3-5 years, despite the steady increase in mobile devices and platforms, makes Seagate's shares desirable. The 'mobile cubicle' may be on the rise, but the office cubicle isn't disappearing.

The complex, delicate trade relationship between the United States and China will likely become more complex -- and heated -- in the months ahead, particular if the current mood in the U.S. Senate doesn't change.

The Senate is likely to increase pressure on President Obama to push China to let its fixed-rate currency, the yuan, appreciate, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.

It's time to get serious about home builders again, and today I started building a position in KB Home (KBH) using options. Since the collapse of the residential real estate market three years ago prognosticators have been debating when the home builders might be worthy of investing your precious coin of the realm.

As is to be expected in these volatile times most were either too optimistic or pessimistic and few got it right. Like many stocks the home builders appear to have bottomed last March. In the case of KB Home shares were available at $10. Today they have been trading between $17.64 and $18.00 per share, up 80%, although it has been a rocky road.

That is a very healthy return, but there is much more upside to come. How would you like to make 43% quick? Yeah me too!

Overseas markets were up on St. Patrick's cheers, or up on continued FOMC promises of keeping rates low. Then a lower producer price index sealed in the day. We are basically back to where the markets are just not wanting to trade off.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,733.67 +47.69 (0.45%)
S&P 500 1,166.19 +6.73 (0.58%)
Nasdaq 2,389.09 +11.08 (0.47%)

Top Analyst Calls
Top Stock Market Rumors
BioHealth Daily

VirnetX (VHC) focuses on commercializing its patent portfolio for real-time communications over the Net. The company is fairly small, with a mere $20,672 in revenues in the latest quarter. There are only 12 employees.

General Electric (GE) used to be a blue chip. Well, I suppose you could argue it still is one, but you have to admit it hasn't acted like one for a while. Remember when the stock hit a single-digit, multi-year low last year? That was painful, especially to someone who owned a long-term position in the business. Like myself.

Besides owning a long-term position, I tried trading the company during the economic crisis. I didn't succeed; I eventually sold the short-term position at a loss, as I mentioned in this piece. But I still hold my long-term shares. And if you haven't been reading the financial news lately, you've missed all the articles about the industrial conglomerate. Looks like everyone is talking about GE, specifically about its potential to come back in the next year or so.

Western Union (WU), first discussed here on July 9, 2009 at a price of $16.49, continues to meander, but the bias is to stay with the play.

Western Union will likely post a 4-7% revenue gain for FY2010. However, the continued sluggish in construction work -- which has reduced day-labor demand for money transfer services -- has weighed on WU's revenue.

Nissan (NSANY) is jumping in on the electric car revolution, producing a car called the Leaf. It's an all-electric car that seats five. The good news for Nissan is that this car will face little in the way of competition; no other electric car seats as many passengers. Nissan is planning to make 500,000 of the Leaf in North America, Japan, and Europe by 2012. The company also announced that 56,000 of the Leaf are on order in the United States; but, this could be the number of dealers ordering the car, not individuals. The company also expects this electric car to be a popular choice for a no-emission fleet vehicle (like a taxi).

Ignore the static: it's still a good time to consider shares of specialty vehicle maker Oshkosh Corp. (OSK), which I first wrote about on July 6, 2009 at a price of $21.48.

The static? Two competitors protesting Oshkosh's win of a U.S. Army contract for 2,568 trucks, with the possibility of supplying as many as 23,000 vehicles and trailers under a five-year contract.

Could the U.S. health care reform bill pass without U.S. House members voting on it?

Indeed it could, through a little-known, but frequently-used procedure known as the 'self-executing rule,' also known as "deem and pass," The New York Times (NYT) reported.

Under deem and pass, which a Republican-led Congress in the 1990s used to raise the national debt ceiling, the House would vote only on the Senate's changes to the House health care reform bill, and "deem" the health care bill to be passed.

TD Ameritrade (AMTD - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company said its second-quarter earnings "are shaping up much like" earnings in the first quarter. AMTD also presented trading data that was very much a mixed bag, as trading volumes were down in February compared to January, but total assets were larger. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged play on AMTD.

This morning, AMTD opened at $18.50. So far today the stock has hit a high of $19.03 and a low of $18.35. As of 11:45, AMTD is trading at $18.93, up $0.13 (0.7%). The chart for AMTD looks bullish and S&P gives AMTD a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.