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Today was an options expiration date, and the stocks closed higher. We had strength early on from Europe, but then some very surprisingly good housing data caused added cheer. The data was taken as permanent, but much still points toward the bump up being temporary. Even a negative call for 222 more bank closures by Meredith Whitney failed to jolt the markets. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 9,502.33 +152.28 (1.63%)
S&P 500 1,025.68 +18.31 (1.82%)
Nasdaq 2,020.36 +31.14 (1.57%)
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) was among the leaders of solar stocks to the downside today on a rash of downgrades in the solar sector. Shares were down by 2.5% at $15.40 late in the day.
If AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is concerned about an FCC investigation that it locked access out to some, you couldn't tell it by the stock performance. Shares were up 2% at $26.04 late in the trading day.
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was just ugly after earnings. This gave a volume alert early into the session, and shares stayed weak all day as the unexcitement ahead prevailed. Shares were down by 7.4% at $28.57 late in the day on over three-times normal volume.
Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) must have forgotten that times are tough. The CRM software company beat earnings and raised guidance, and even added 3,000 new customers in the quarter. Shares opened strong and only rose further throughout the day. Shares were up 16.5% at $53.81 shortly before the close.
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) were already up early this morning ahead of the data, but the strong data from existing home sales only helped throughout the day. Fannie Mae was up 10% at $1.21 on 6-times normal volume and Freddie Mac was was up 10% at $1.76 on about 6-times volume late in the day.
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