The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly edged above 11,000 Friday, but finished just below the mark, as promising economic data and waning Greece debt fears helped power the assent, while investors began looking to company earnings next week.

The Dow, which finished the day after adding 70 points, or 0.6%, to 10,997, crossed the 11,000-point threshold near the closing bell for the first time since September 2008. The S&P 500 improved 8 points, or 0.7%, to 1194, while the Nasdaq went ahead by 17 points, or 0.7%, at 2454.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq also led the other major averages for the week, adding 2.1%. The S&P gained 1.4% since last Thursday’s close, while the Dow picked up 0.6%.

Fannie Mae FNM  0.79, +0.05, +6.76%) posted a loss for the second quarter of $14.8 billion, or $2.67 a share, compared with a loss of $2.3 billion, or $2.54 a share in the same period last year.

Net revenues were $5.6 billion and fair value gains were $823 million, Fannie Mae said in a regulatory filing.

The mortgage entity said the $12.5 billion increase in net loss in the period was driven by a $13.4 billion increase in credit-related expenses, which “more than offset a $1.7 billion increase in net interest income.”

The results were “adversely affected by the ongoing deterioration in the housing and mortgage markets, the economic recession and rising unemployment,” Fannie Mae said.

Fannie Mae said its request submitted Thursday for an additional $10.7 billion in aid follows a $19 billion infusion from Treasury in June, and a $15.2 billion infusion in March.

Interesting artcle at cnn.money.com regarding Boeing stock. With the added input of two analysts.

NEW YORK (Fortune) — Boeing stock has plunged as air travel swoons globally. This year is expected to be only the third time air traffic has declined in its 50-year history.

Boeing Shares have dropped 60% since their peak in October of 2007, and earnings have sunk 50% in the first quarter as airlines delay or cancel orders, Boeing begins to cut production, and investors worry about Pentagon spending cuts.
Continue reading Stocks to Watch – Boeing

Sprint Nextel Corp., Motorola Inc. and Nokia Corp. led telecommunications stocks broadly higher in Wednesday trades as the U.S. market forged ahead.

Stocks got a boost from Intel Corp., the chipmaking giant. The company reported better-than-expected results, though sales still fell sharply from the year-ago quarter and Intel reported a net loss.

In early action, Sprint climbed 3%, while Motorola  and Nokia each gained 4%.

AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. also rose about 1% each.

Microsoft may not be recession-proof but it turned in a strong performance in a year most companies would like to forget.

Profits jumped 25.7% to $17.7 billion on revenues of $60.4 billion as the software giant offset declining sales of its Windows operating system with increased revenues from its server and tools software products.

Apple Inc.  (AAPL: Apple Inc) is projected to post a fiscal second-quarter profit of $1.09 a share.

AT&T Inc. (T:AT&T Inc) is estimated to report a profit of 48 cents a share in the first quarter.

McDonald’s Corp. (MCD:McDonald’’s Corp) is likely to report a first-quarter profit of 82 cents a share, according to analysts.
Continue reading Stocks to watch (04-21-09)

Lowe’s Cos.’ (LOW) fiscal first-quarter earnings fell 22% amid continued weak demand for big-ticket items.

The world’s second-largest home-improvement retailer after Home Depot Inc. ( HD) nevertheless raised its fiscal-year earnings view but narrowed its outlook for revenue.

Continue reading Stocks to Watch – Lowe’s Cos (LOW)

Dollar Tree

A newcomer to the Fortune 500, Dollar Tree was also its best performing stock last year, returning nearly 61%. That was no small feat: As a group, the Fortune 500 sank 41%. The company cashed in on the recession, as a $1 (or less) price on everything from candy to glassware drove sales at more than 3,500 stores.

Continue reading Top performing stocks you should invest in

New Jersey Resources(NJR) is an energy-services company that provides retail and wholesale energy services to customers in New Jersey and other states from the Gulf Coast to New England and Canada.

The numbers: Fiscal second-quarter revenue declined 20% to $938 million as net income and earnings per share surged 183% to $36 million and 83 cents, respectively. The debt-to-equity ratio remained low at 0.63, but a quick ratio of 0.43 indicates a weak cash position. Margins improved significantly, with the operating margin climbing 443 basis points to 6.2% and the net margin jumping 272 basis points to 3.8%.

The stock: New Jersey Resources has fallen 6% in 2009, in line with the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13 and offers an attractive 3.4% dividend yield.

For the past three months, small stocks were the big story. Small-cap funds gained 21.5% on average in the quarter, led by small value’s 22.2% rise. Standouts included Aegis Value Fund /quotes/comstock/10r!avalx (AVALX 6.82, -0.23, -3.26%) , up 48.5%, and Wasatch Micro Cap Value Fund /quotes/comstock/10r!wamvx (WAMVX 1.72, -0.05, -2.82%) , up 40%.

Large- and midcap offerings followed with their own strong showings.

Large-cap funds collectively added 16.2%, with large-blend and large-value each up 16.4% and large-growth up 15.6%. Among the top performers were the hardest-hit funds of 2008, such as Vanguard Capital Value Fund /quotes/comstock/10r!vcvlx (VCVLX 6.62, -0.18, -2.65%) , up 39.1%, Yacktman Focused Fund /quotes/comstock/10r!yaffx (YAFFX 12.59, -0.36, -2.78%) , up 36.9%, Legg Mason Value Trust /quotes/comstock/10r!lmvtx (LMVTX 28.64, -1.05, -3.54%) , gaining 29.4%, and Longleaf Partners Fund /quotes/comstock/10r!llpfx (LLPFX 18.90, -0.52, -2.68%) , rising 26.6%.
Continue reading Low-Quality stocks with high gains