Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Looking for direction

Stocks finished mixed, with the Dow holding onto solid gains, while Netflix's disappointing outlook weighed down tech stocks. In fact, investors are wondering whether the economic and market momentum that boosted stocks from last October through March is starting to fade. European stocks closed higher.  Spain, whose finances have also been a growing concern in recent weeks, also had a successful bond auction of nearly €2 billion. Its yields fell as well. Apple has been struggling lately, and finished Tuesday 13% lower since hitting an all-time high earlier this month. The stock spiked in after-hours trading after  earnings results blew expectations. The company posted $39.2 billion in sales, nearly 60% increase from last year, while earnings nearly doubled to $11.6 billion.