Sam Collins

Momentum Remains on the Bulls' Side

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Yesterday's good news drove stocks higher as hardly a shred of negative news crossed the tape.

It started before the 9:30 opening bell when President Obama's spokesman said that the president would reappoint Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to lead the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States.

Then a series of strong economic reports hit the tape, starting with S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index. For the first time in three years, the index increased for two consecutive months by posting a rise of 1.4% in June. Home prices are down 15.4% in the past year, but that's still an improvement over the record decline of 19% (year-over-year) in January.

If that wasn't enough, consumer confidence for August came in at 54.1 versus an expected 47.9. And it was above July, which was reported at 47.4.

Even though oil declined, it had only a marginal impact on stocks.

The consumer, financial and industrial stocks were strongest. Retailers were up, led by Big Lots (BIG), which was up 1.57% after reporting better-than-expected earnings. Chico's (CHS) beat estimates, too, and gained 0.9%. Coach (COH) gained 4.39%, and Macy's (M) rose 3.46%.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was up 30 points to 9,539, the S&P 500 (SPX) gained 2 points to 1,028, and the Nasdaq (NASD) rose 6 points to 2,024.