The markets blasted off today on renewed efforts by the Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare. The Dow 30, which was assisted by a nice earnings report from American Express (NYSE: AXP) soared 197. The S&P 500 added 17 and the Nasdaq 100 gained 53 on the day. Tomorrow investors will get a look at existing home sales along with some manufacturing numbers to round out the week.
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) was one of the major earnings announcements today as the company showed a miss on both its top and bottom lines for the first quarter. Revenue came in with a loss of more than 7% compared to last year. It seems the company lost monthly wireless subscribers for the first time despite the marketing efforts of its unlimited data plans. The company also reiterated that it expects to close, as scheduled on Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) at the end of June. Shares were lower by 1.08% on the day.
Gap (NYSE: GPS) shares popped 4.95% today when JP Morgan upgraded the stock to neutral from underweight and raised its price target by $3 to $24 a share. JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) was quoted as saying it "sees stability in the retailer's Old Navy stores and limited downside risk to overall earnings." Technical traders were especially excited at the possibility of a breakout though it didn't quite make it to the traditional entry point.
Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) was also higher today and did manage to breakout of its multi-month range when Stifel Nicolaus upgraded the stock to buy from hold. The firm "expects same-store sales growth to accelerate to at least 5% to 6% for the next four quarters," which was good enough for investors to push the stock higher by 1.76% to new 207 highs.