The Aft Deck's  Instablog

The S&P 500 and the NAS closed up a bit Wednesday on anticipation of early earnings results as the Q-3 reporting season began.
After the Bell, futures headed North as aluminum company Alcoa Inc released its results, and its shares jumped 5.8% to US$15.02 in after-hours trade. (See AA in Wednesday’s Stock Talk)
During the regular session, Costco Wholesale Corp rose 1.9% to US$59/shr after the retailer posted profits that topped forecasts. (See Stock Talk today).
The DJIA closed down a bit at 5.67 pts, or 0.06%, to close the session at 9,725.58, the S&P 500 was up 2.86 pts, or 0.27%, to close at 1,057.58, and the NAS tallied up + 6.76 pts, or 0.32, to 2,110.33 on the day.
Stocks also responded well to a successful 10 yr T-Note auction, which boosted confidence in US assets, including stocks and bonds.
Google Inc was among the NAS’s top performers, up 3.8% to close at US$517.82 after the company’s chief executive said the worst of the advertising recession was over.
Volume and Breadth: once again trade was below average on the NYSE, with 1.09B/shrs changing hands, less than last year’s estimated daily average of 1.49B/shrs, and on the NAS, about 2.23B/shrs traded, about the same last year’s daily average of 2.28B/shrs. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a ratio of 15 to 13, while declining stocks were about even with advancers on the NAS
Stocks to Watch Today
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (BRCD), Wholesale Corporation (COST), Monsanto Company (MON), and PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP).