With no economic data we focused at first on Europe, then on finance regulation, and then on bargain hunting. Very few earnings were out and very little corporate news was out. Today was about raw supply and demand mixed with a big short squeeze with the bulls having a winner.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,193.39 +125.38 (1.25%)
S&P 500 1,087.69 +16.10 (1.50%)
Nasdaq 2,229.04 +25.03 (1.14%)

It's probably now or never to consider American Express (AXP) and earn an out-sized gain during the current economic expansion.

I first discussed AXP here in the spring of 2009 at a price of $27.28. The company posted a solid first quarter, with customers spending 16% more compared to the same period a year ago, including a large 27% increase in international spending. This suggests consumer confidence is improving -- something that's historically bullish for U.S. GDP. The company earned 31 cents per share a year ago in the first quarter of 2009. In the first quarter, revenue rose 11% to $6.6 billion.

Visa (V), which competes with American Express (AXP), Discover Financial Services (DFS), and MasterCard (MA), is probably one of the best long-term ideas out there, in my opinion. Credit and debit cards will always play a vital role in the financial culture, and Visa is a top brand in the space.

The equity's 52-week high stands at $97.19. It closed yesterday at $93.61, up a paltry 66 cents, or 0.7%. The stock wasn't rocking into the earnings report, which was released after the bell. And it's pulled back a little from the 52-week high. So what? The one-year chart looks attractive to my eye, and even if it didn't, this is one story I'm fully behind.

The skinny on American Express' (AXP) first quarter performance? An impressive besting of the First Call estimates -- the company earned 73 cents per share compared to the Thomson/Reuters First Call estimate of 64 cents per share -- and it's a performance that also bodes well for the economic recovery.

The reason? Customers spent 16% more in the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago, including a large 27% increase in international spending. The aforementioned suggests U.S. consumer confidence is improving -- something that's historically been bullish for U.S. GDP. The company earned 31 cents per share a year ago in the first quarter of 2009.

In order to spur spending, Target Corporation (TGT) has long offered

discounts to consumers who signed up for its store-brand credit cards. And more often than not, those cards carried the Visa, Inc. (V) logo.

Well, not any more. This week, TGT announced it will no longer issue cards with the Visa logo and instead encourage shoppers to sign up for its own plastic "REDcard." It's a trend that could sap revenue away from credit card stocks V, Mastercard In (MA) and American Express (AXP).

It's a shopaholic's dream and a privacy advocate's nightmare -- a credit card that knows what you've been buying and can make recommendations on what to splurge on next.

Through a new partnership with an Internet company that specializes in personalized shopping, MasterCard (MA) just rolled out a Web shopping mall call MasterCard Marketplace on Monday. The gimmick is that it can predict what MA cardholders are likely to purchase and make suggestions. Now that consumer spending is actually above it's 2008 peak (really!), it is the perfect time for such a program.

Consumer credit dropped in February, falling by $11.5 billion. Economists had predicted only a $700 million decline. the drop was the 12th in 13 straight months.

Americans practically closed their wallets. compared to their lavish spending habits of the past. This is an important shift, since consumer spending accounts for 70% of GDP. Here is a breakdown of the numbers:

It's not easy to make money from the small business market. But Vistaprint (VPRT) has found an efficient platform to do so. The company helps with the design of such things as business cards, brochures, calendars and even websites.

In Vistaprint's latest quarterly report, revenues grew 40% to $194.6 million and the company acquired 1.8 million new customers. In all, there are roughly eight million customers.

Discover Financial Services (DFS) issued its fiscal first quarter report Tuesday after the bell. According to an article at BusinessWeek.com, a net loss of 22 cents per share was recorded. Last year at this time, the card entity, which counts American Express (AXP) as a colleague, brought in 25 cents per share of positive income.

The quarter's red ink was driven by an addition to loan loss reserves. Without that aspect, Reuters says that Discover brought in a profit of 11 cents per share. Unfortunately, that won't help the company win the expectations game. The estimate at Earnings.com indicates a desired figure of 12 cents for the bottom line.

Investors and traders are in a quandary, trying to figure out if the economy is, indeed, improving.

One measure of growth is consumer spending. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of GDP, and it is the engine that has kept the economy growing over the past decade.

Well, consumer credit has fallen for eleven straight months. The recession has taken a harsh toll on the consumer. We have about 17 million people out of work. These persons certainly are spending only for basic necessities.

Visa (V), a credit card company that competes with American Express (AXP), Discover Financial Services (DFS), and MasterCard (MA), is looking good after the Q1 report, which was released to the market after the bell on Wednesday. GAAP net operating revenue went up 13%. Net income was $1.02 per Class A share, representing a 38% year-over-year increase. According to TheStreet.com, the expectation was for 91 cents.

I simply love this business model. We're a society that is addicted to using credit and debit cards, and Visa takes a little percentage of each transaction. So far, the model is working like a charm. Visa expects prosperous growth in the future, plus a whole lot of free cash flow.

Jack Dorsey is accustomed to dealing in small. In 2006, he co-founded social media sensation Twitter, which traffics in content bites that are no more than 140 characters in length. He left his position as CEO a year ago (and remains chairman) and is now focusing on his newest endeavor: mobile payments. He came up with the idea for his new company, Square, a year ago and hopes it will revolutionize how money is exchanged.

The first product that Square is bringing to market lives up to its name: it's a small cube-shaped credit card terminal that can plug into an iPhone's headset jack. The problem that the device is intended to solve is the swift and easy transaction of credit card payments for anyone. It was inspired by the plight of Dorsey's friend, Jim McKelvey, a glass artist who lost a $2,000 sale because he couldn't accept credit card payments.

Optimism around holiday spending, strength in the stock market for the second half of 2009 and wishful thinking about the economic climate aren't going to be enough to turn the situation around. And, there's more to the story than the 10% unemployment rate. Moody's Investor Services said Tuesday that more people fell behind on their credit card payments in November.

The charge-off rate on credit cards increased to 10.56% last month, according to the Moody's Credit Card Index. It had fallen in September and October, settling at 10.04% before ticking back up last month. Fortunately, this remains below the June level of 10.76%, a record high.

Today had little economic data to boost or quell markets. Asian stocks were weak but European market gave the US a boost on German business confidence. Today's gainers were mostly on earnings and oil and gold both rallied off lows after Iran's military supposedly raised an Iranian flag over an Iraqi oil well in a disputed area now part of Iraq. Gold may still be dead or range bound the rest of 2009.

The closing bell on this Triple Witching expiration date was not certain on the direction throughout most of the late morning and through most of the afternoon.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,310.23 +1.97 (0.02%)
S&P 500 1,102.73 +6.65 (0.61%)
Nasdaq 2,211.69 +31.64 (1.45%)

Top Day Trader Alerts
Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

Late Friday, Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced that it will add four new companies to the S&P 500 Index (SPX), including credit card company Visa (V). Visa will replace telecom equipment company Ciena (CIEN). S&P stated that all the companies moving to the index have market caps above $5 billion, which makes them more representative of the market-cap range.

This morning, analysts are reacting to the news, setting up Visa for a bit of a news-related Monday rally. RW Baird upgraded Visa to outperform from neutral and upped its target price from $88 to $100, noting that it expects growth to reaccelerate growth over the next couple quarter, "along with annual earnings-per-share growth of more than 20 percent over the next couple years." Baird also believes that improving retail sales will help Visa. In addition, William Blair upped its estimate on Visa in order to reflect "an improved volume outlook."