Stocks up on mixed economic data

Stocks rose on mixed economic data. Dow was up 94, advancers ahead of decliners 5-2 & NAZ up a strong 37 helped by the excitement of a fight over Yahoo's (YHOO) future. Dow closed at a sensitive point, 7 below the magic 13K line. After breaking that barrier a few weeks ago, it has not been able to follow thru. In the coming sessions, it will be tested!

After hours, Kohl (KSS) reported down earnings but they beat lowered expectations. Their guidance going forward was cautious, sending the stock down 1.11 in after hours trading. Nordstrom (JWN) reported the same kind of story, up 86¢ in after hours trading. Earnings were down, but beat the lower bar set by analysts. On the positive side CBS will buy CNET (CNET) at a nice premium, CNET rose 3.46.

Down market on higher oil prices & company earnings

Stocks pulled back today on worries about the high price of oil and a more careful look at company earnings. Dow was down 104, decliners over advancers 5-2 & NAZ down 31. This week starts with 2 down days after a great week last week. Oil came within in whisper of 120 but slipped back to settle at 119.37. Gas at the pump reached another record 3.51 yesterday, up 66¢ from last year. As I said this morning, I saw a lot of 3.60 prices as the base price at a number of stations in the last few days. Earnings reports are getting mediocre reviews if that. The scariest was DuPont (DD) talking about weakness in their US business, down 2.09. The trend seems to be that it's getting harder & harder to beat estimates & many of those have already been lowered.

Yahoo (YHOO) just reported earnings, beating estimates. They earned 10 or 11¢ (depending whether how a special gain is handled) compared to 9¢ estimate, but down from 37¢ last year. The stock is down a few pennies in after hours trading. This is the type of report that is more common & not being taken well. Their comments by phone will help answer questions.