9:00am (EST)
The bulls are doing overtime as this week’s trading will be shortened to four sessions instead of five as the market is closed on Good Friday. Unlike Smokey and the Bandit, the bulls don’t have a long way to go for Dow 11,000 but they are acting like they have a short time to get there.
The market got off to a good start and held its gains for much of the day which is exactly what we wanted to see. Most of Wall Street is still calling for a pullback before the market heads higher and many analysts are cautious this week ahead of the unemployment number due out on Friday.
As result, the Dow finished the day with a 45 point gain and closed at 10,895 after touching a high of 10,916. The S&P 500 climbed nearly 7 points and settled at 1,173 while the Nasdaq closed at 2,404, up 9. The Nasdaq closed above the 2,400 level for the first time since May 2008.
The market got some great news after the close last night from, guess who? Apple (AAPL, $232.39, up $1.49).
The company announced a new iPhone model that it will be selling to Verizon Communications (VZ, $30.45, up $0.08) by the summer. Shares of Apple are up nearly $5 in pre-market trading and Verizon’s stock is up fractionally. AT&T (T, $26.51, up $0.27), the current exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the U.S., is down 50 cents in early action. Research In Motion (RIMM, $75.70, up $0.64) is down nearly $2.00…
Apple is developing a “CDMA-compatible” iPhone model that would work on Verizon’s network but more importantly, globally. Folks, this is powerful news. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if Apple traded $300 sometime this year.
Futures are pointing towards a slightly higher open this morning. Dow futures are up 7, S&P 500 futures are up 2 while the Nasdaq futures are higher by 4. At 10am, we get the Consumer Confidence number and here shortly we get some housing data.
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