Stocks Rise On Earnings And Pullback In Crude

Nasdaq leads the indices finishing up nearly 1%.  Crude oil futures closed lower by 1.7% at $60.36.

Wednesday's market action created a 10 day intraday high as well as 3 straight days of advancers outnumbering decliners on the S&P 500 Index (explanations below), which are bearish signals. It will be interesting to see if we get more bearish signals next week and if any trigger on the Nasdaq, which has been rangebound for most of the past week (click here for more info).

Stocks on the Move

Weaker Demand, Higher Costs Drags Down Black & Decker (BDK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Q3 Profit; Sees Q4, FY06 EPS Below Consensus; Boosts Share Buyback; Declares Dividend (full story).  BDK shares finish the day up by nearly 5%.

Aetna (AET | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Q3 Profit Rises, Revenues Up 11%, Boosts FY06 EPS Target, Initiate FY07 EPS Outlook (full story).  AET shares finish higher by 7.5%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Q3 Profit Plummets On Reduction In Plavix Sales, Lifts FY 06 Earnings Outlook (full story).  BMY shares close lower by 0.6%. 

Boyd Gaming (BYD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Slips To Loss In Q3; Income From Cont. Operations Declines (full story).  BYD shares close fractionally lower.

Raytheon (RTN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Q3 Profit Up 41.6% On Higher Sales At Integrated Defense Systems, Aircraft Units; Boosts FY06 Outlook (full story).  RTN shares fall by 0.5%.

Starwood Hotels (HOT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Q3 Profit Surges Despite Lower Revenues; Guides Q4, FY06, FY07 EPS (full story).  HOT shares decline by over 1%.

Exxon Mobil (XOM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Q3 Profit Rises On Oil Prices, EPS Tops Consensus (full story).  XOM shares close higher by 0.8%.

For more stories as they happen, go to our Breaking News section.

Use our most popular trading tool to find out how your stocks will move in the next 5 days.

10 Day High Alert- This is an alert that the market has hit a 10 day new high intra-day today. Historically this has meant that when the market is above its 200 day ma, little progress has been seen over the next 2-5 days (on average) as the market is either overbought or nearing overbought conditions. It's a good place to be taking profits. When the market is below its 200 day ma and the market hits a new 10 day high, it has been, on average, a good place to be looking to put on short positions.

Adv. Issues > Dec. Issues 3 Days In A Row- Too many stocks rising in one day or over multiple days usually precede a market that will be quiet or drop. Too many stocks declining in one day or over multiple days usually precede a market rally, especially when the market is above its 200 day ma.