Optimism that the Federal Reserve may infuse the ailing economy with additional stimulus funds lifted the markets to a sharply higher open with the Dow soaring 118
points to 11,678. Nasdaq climbed 23
points to
2599.
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) will raise capital through the sale of its correspondent mortgage unit.
AUO Optronics (NYSE: AUO) reorganized its Display Business Operation and established an Executive Strategic Planning Division.
Vera Bradley (Nasdaq: VRA) reported higher second quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations as revenue climbed.
On the downside
LTX-Credence (Nasdaq: LTXC) reported lower fourth quarter earnings that missed expectations and warned of losses for the first quarter.
DryShips (Nasdaq: DRYS) swung to a greater than expected loss for the second quarter as expenses climbed.
Evercore Partners analyst Patrick Wang expects continued weakness in the chip industry and warned that TriQuint (Nasdaq: TQNT) may be vulnerable to a downturn in the sector.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 6 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 7 points to 735.
