US stocks are mixed in midday trading

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By MATTHEW CRAFT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted in Thursday trading as a parade of big companies turn in quarterly results. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed more than 100 points, almost entirely thanks to a strong gain for Visa, the Dow's highest-priced stock.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index picked up five points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,988 as of 12:10 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite fell four points, a fraction of a percent, to 4,545. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 147 points, or 0.9 percent, at 17,121.

MORE GROWTH: The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the three months ending in September, powered by more business investment, sales abroad and the biggest jump in military spending in five years. The Commerce Department's estimate for third-quarter growth came in slightly better than economists expected. In a separate report, the Labor Department counted more people applying for unemployment benefits last week, but the less-volatile four-week average declined to 281,000, the lowest level since May 2000.

ONE TAKE: "It's another report that indicates the economy can stand on its own two feet," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital Management, referring to the government's estimate of economic growth. "At the same time, it somewhat heightens the fear factor in the markets that the Fed may raise interest rates sooner than later."

FULL story at link.



FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2014 file photo, a Wall Street address is carved in the side of a building in New York. U.S. stocks are drifting in early trading Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, as a parade of big companies turn in quarterly results. A strong gain for Visa pulled the Dow Jones industrial average higher. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20141030/financial_markets-c95475bfcf.html

[leftynyc]

1. I just saw on yahoo

market is up over 200 points.

[yellowcanine]

2. 17, 208.79, + 234.48 (1.38%)

Happy Days are Here Again!

[leftynyc]

5. That's my retirement

so I'm not one of those who whine about the market going up. Especially the day after the fed stopped the massive buy in.

[yellowcanine]

7. 60% of mine also. I don't care much what it does short term, long term it is always up.

Even when I begin mandatory withdrawals I will probably plow anything not needed for immediate expenses right back into the market.

[leftynyc]

8. Same here

I don't plan on retiring for at least 10 years (probably closer to 12 or 15) so the see saw thing doesn't bother me very much. What happened in 2008 gave me a lot of gray hairs.

[yellowcanine]

9. My solution in 2008 was to throw the quarterly reports in a drawer unopened.

I knew the news was bad, no point on dwelling on it. I wasn't going to do anything about it anyway. I figured that the drop in the market just meant that my biweekly purchases of stock went further.

[leftynyc]

10. LOL - that's exactly what

my best friend (and financial advisor) suggested. Don't even look at them, they're meaningless in terms of my retirement. But I did look at the first one and had days of heartburn. It was 2 years before I opened the next one.

[unblock]

4. the dow is rather ahead of the rest of the market today, with visa being up 10%

but yes, nasdaq has turned positive so "mixed" no longer applies.

[Omaha Steve]

6. Without Visa, the Dow would be down two points

Next paragraph in the story: VISA: After the market closed Wednesday, the world's largest payment-processing company reported quarterly earnings that were higher than analysts' forecasts, thanks to the company handling more transactions. The company also announced a plan to spend as much as $5 billion on buying its own shares. Visa surged $19.96, or 9 percent, $234.62. Without Visa, the Dow would be down two points.

[Warpy]

3. Mixed?

The Dow is up 232.19 at present, the S&P within 1.20 points of the 2000 mark.

I'd call that a buying frenzy.

They'll probably all drop tomorrow as institutional investors take their profits.