Dow extends rally; Nasdaq dips on weak earnings
Posted: 25 July 2009 0509 hrs

	Photos 1 of 1 Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

NEW YORK - Wall Street shares drifted to a mostly higher close Friday as investors mulled disappointing earnings reports a day after a powerful rally that took the market to new highs this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 23.95 points (0.26 percent) to finish at 9,093.24.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 7.64 points (0.39 percent) to 1,965.96, snapping a 12-session winning streak.

The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index added 2.97 points (0.30 percent) to close at 979.26.

"It's a very resilient performance by the market," said Scott Marcouiller of Wells Fargo Advisors. "It shows you once again that the momentum is positive."

Stocks zigzagged in choppy trade as investors took profits after better-than-expected earnings reports had sent the major indices Thursday to their highest levels in months.

"There hasn't been any concerted selling interest during this rally, because investors have been riding this move for all it's worth," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.

"Some redemption is probably now in order knowing that the rally train can't keep its current pace running on economic fumes," he added.

Another rise in oil prices pumped up heavyweight energy stocks. ExxonMobil advanced 0.95 percent to 72.29 dollars and Chevron added 0.80 percent to 68.43 dollars.

"The mood of the stock market remains very bullish given the huge number of positive earnings surprises," said Fred Dickson of DA Davidson & Co.

But disappointing quarterly results from Microsoft, American Express, and Amazon.com dampened sentiment.

Microsoft plunged 8.26 percent to 23.45 dollars after profit fell 29 percent and sales dropped 17 percent in the final quarter of its fiscal year. The software giant posted a full-year revenue drop for the first time as a public company.

The European Commission announced Friday Microsoft had agreed to open up Windows to different Internet browsers in order to fend off European Union litigation.

Online retailer Amazon.com tumbled 7.86 percent to 86.49 dollars after disappointing sales.

American Express gained 0.20 percent to 29.51 dollars after quarterly profit was halved by mounting delays in credit card payments by its US customers.

Internet search engine giant Yahoo!, which also reported earnings this week, rose 0.69 percent to 17.48 dollars.

In the financials sector, CIT Group, which averted what seemed like an imminent bankruptcy, climbed 1.35 percent to 75 cents. The Wall Street Journal reported the business lender is eyeing a breakup, with its aviation-finance and rail-finance operations most likely to be sold.

Citigroup shed 1.44 percent to 2.73 dollars. The taxpayer-rescued bank announced three independent directors to its board, in line with government demands.

Bonds rebounded from Thursday's losses. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond fell to 3.670 percent from 3.709 percent Thursday and that on the 30-year bond slipped to 4.555 percent from 4.599 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Haha...i am not a guru and a know-it-all....if i am i wont be here posting...i will be enjoying a better quality lifestyle rather then typing here...if there is really a correction then you might be right that i am just lucky to guess it right.... but one thing for sure...DONT GET IT PERSONAL...and start calling names. Show some IQ and EQ...you are a supreme poster here. BTW, this is a public forum, if you aint happy about others opinion, you can choose to ignore or query, show some composure as a SENIOR HERE in this forum, dont be like a cry babe and wanted others to think the same as you. That is the point i am trying to highlight to you.

Like i say before, how i trade is another matters so long as everyweek i can have three days of profit into my account is good enough for me.... and i have done that for the past three months....

Cheers...

So you know it all?

Why not be another market guru?

And most importantly,  have you shorted the market yet, (to show that you believe in your own thinking)? ...