The markets extended its gains during the midday with the Dow surging 133
points to 11,283 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the nation's economy was moving in the right direction for long-term growth. Nasdaq leaped 62
points to
2482.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (NYSE: KKD) reported sharply higher fourth quarter earnings that quadrupled.
Fourth quarter earnings climbed for Micros Systems (Nasdaq: MCRS) as revenue rose.
Brand management firm Galaxy International paid $55 million for Brown Shoe's (Nasdaq: BWS) AND1 brand.
Shares of mortgage insurer Radian Group (NYSE: RDN) and MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG) continued rising after S&P revised its methodologies for rating bond insurers.
Piper Jaffray analyst Mark Murphy initiated coverage of SuccessFactors (NYSE: SFSF) with an Overweight rating and a price target of $27.
On the downside
Star Scientific (Nasdaq: CIGX) lost its bid for a new patent infringement trial against Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks jumped 16 point to 690.
