Today's good news really came from issues outside of economic numbers. Many are starting to think the end of the rate cut cycle is near because of inflation concerns, and even oil saw a nice drop of over $2.00 per barrel today. The Labor Department showed weekly jobless claims for unemployment benefits declined by 33,000 last week to 342,000, and that was slightly better than expectations. The Commerce Department gave really bad news though, as new home sales fell by 8.5% in March to an annual rate of 526,000 houses, the worst in more than fifteen years. Median home prices slid more than in almost 40 years. Below are the unofficial closing levels:

• DJIA 12,843.09 (+79.87; +0.6%)
• S&P500 1,388.58 ((+8.65, +0.6%))
• NASDAQ 2,428.92 (+23.71; +0.99%)
• 10YR-TBond 3.827% (+0.097%)
• 52-WEEK LOWS

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) managed to climb up after opening soft as many noted there wasn't much sizzle to its guidance the stock after it blew past earnings yesterday. That didn't last and shares rose by more than 4% to $169.60 in the last minutes of the day.

True Religion Apparel (NASDAQ: TRLG) is one of those companies that has a core cult following of investors, and it nearly defies logic. The company sells $200 and $300 blue jeans, among other apparel, has its own stores and also sells through key retailers like Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN), Neiman Marcus, Barneys, and other upscale retailers.

Shares are up big today, at $22.53 as of 10:20, and this more than 10% post-earnings move could get the stock within striking distance of its all-time highs from 2006. The company posted $0.21 net and $0.25 non-GAAP EPS on revenues of $35.7 million. Analysts were looking for $0.26 non-GAAP EPS and $35.7 million in revenues, according to First Call.

The company plans to add to its eight branded stores, increasing to fifteen stores by year end. The company is maintaining strong guidance for 2007, with $1.24 to $1.27 EPS and maintained about $167 million in revenue projections. First Call has estimates of $1.25 EPS and $166 million in revenues. This has been a stock that many short sellers have attacked, because after all, it sells $300 jeans.

This one has been shocking when you consider what the company does. It has a $500 million market cap. It has seen management infighting over a divorce that resulted in large share sales. Many on Wall Street think it is a prime short sale candidate. It hasn't been able to find a buyer. And it sells $300 jeans. Yet here it is, up over 10% and close to a year-high again.

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Dominion Resources (D), Digene (DIGE) and Deutsche Bank (DB) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• BMO Capital downgraded shares of Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D) to Market Perform from Outperform citing the sale proceeds for its onshore U.S. E&P properties that were below expectations.
• Digene Corp. (NASDAQ: DIGE) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Ferris Baker Watts based on the acquisition by Qiagen (NASDAQ: QGEN). Digene was also downgraded at SummerStreet to Neutral from Buy, as the firm views the Qiagen's acquisition for $1.6B as reasonable.
• Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan, as the firm sees better value in traditional credit-exposed banks.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Norsk Hydro (NYSE: NHY) and BP PLC (NYSE: BP) were downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
• Quiksilver Inc. (NYSE: ZQK) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W Baird due to valuation.
  
• Banc of America downgraded shares of SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) to Neutral from Buy on valuation as they believe further sales of Coke may not be very accretive to EPS.
• LifePoint Hospitals Inc. (NASDAQ: LPNT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies based on valuation.
• Clear Channel Outdoors Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CCO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at DBAB on valuation.
• Matrix USA downgraded shares of Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) to Hold from Buy to reflect rising costs and lower enrollment rates.
• Matrix also downgraded True Religion Apparel Inc. (NASDAQ: TRLG) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).