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.