Closing Bell: Dow ends up nearly 11%; BA, DFS, GOOG, VLO end with strong gains; WHR declines

Posted Oct 28th 2008 4:22PM by Jon Ogg
Filed under: After the Bell, Earnings Reports, Google (GOOG), Market Matters, Boeing Co (BA), Analyst Initiations, Valero Energy (VLO), Economic Data, Housing, Visa Inc. (V)

After failing yesterday when a late-day selloff hit the market, today the buyers were determined. Asia proved that its markets could finally rally and the rest of the world followed suit. The markets had enough buyers today that the worst consumer confidence on record and another poor housing number were swept as "yada yada yada, tell me something I don't know." The markets were also more hopeful that Ben Bernanke and friends at the FOMC will drop rates by 50 basis-points Wednesday.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:
DJIA: 9,065.12 +889.35 +10.88%
NASDAQ: 1,649.47 +143.57 +9.53%
S&P 500: 940.51 +91.59 +10.79%
10YR T-NOTE 3.82% (+0.091%)

Top Upgrades & Downgrades

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) reached a tentative pact that may end the machinists union strike at the aerospace giant. Shares were up 11% at $47.16 right before the close.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) settled on the litigation with MasterCard and Visa, and it will receive a total of $2.75 billion over anti-competitive pressures. It was a known event, but this finalizes the issue sooner rather than later. Shares were up 18% at $11.48 right before the close.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) rose after a key analyst initiation. Credit Suisse covered new and old media sector companies somewhat cautiously in this lower spending environment, but Google was among the few companies started with an "Outperform" rating. Shares were up 8.8% at $357.90 right before the close of trading.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) posted $1.86 EPS from continuing operations versus estimates of $1.54 EPS. After a 70%+ selloff and a forward P/E of roughly 4.0 to 5.0, it is no shock to see this one do well today. Shares were up over 10% at $16.70 right before the close.

Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR) was one of the losers of the day after it lowered guidance for the fiscal year and announced it would lay off about 5,000 workers. Shares were down almost 10% at $45.10 at a new 52-week low in the final minutes of the day.

Tags: ba, DFS, goog, vlo, WHR