Sam Collins

New Major Uptrend Confirmed

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A broad run of better-than-expected earnings led the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), the S&P 500 (SPX) and the Nasdaq (NASD) to breakout highs. Also acting as a catalyst was the third month of increasing existing homes sales.

Ford (F), eBay (EBAY), 3M (MMM), Qualcomm (QCOM), SanDisk (SNDK), Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO) and AT&T (T), as well as others, exceeded earnings forecasts. And even though almost all of them saw a decline in revenues and benefited from cutting costs, buyers focused on the earnings, not the method of achieving them.

The Dow finished at the best level since January -- topping 9,000 -- and the S&P 500 was its best since November.

The Nasdaq, which started the buying with a breakout several weeks ago, traded at its highest level since October. The Nasdaq has advanced for 12 successive sessions, an accomplishment not seen since 1992.

According to Thomson Reuters, 76% of companies reporting earnings have exceeded forecasts. This eclipses the 73% record of Q1 2004, which was the highest recorded by Thomson Reuters since they began tracking the percentage in 1994.

At the close, the Dow was up 188 points to 9,069, the S&P 500 rose 22 points to 976, and the Nasdaq gained 47 points to 1,974. The NYSE traded 1.4 billion shares with advancers ahead of decliners by 5-to-1. On the Nasdaq, 921 million shares traded with advancers ahead by 4-to-1.

September crude oil rose $1.76 to $67.16 a barrel, and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) gained $1.40 to $50.66.