Daily Wrap

DJIA +55.91 (+0.39%) to 14,511.73; S&P 500 +10.37 (+0.67%) to 1,558.71; NASDAQ +25.09 (+0.78%) to 3,254.19

Today caught me somewhat by surprise as last night I expected today to probably start muted and remain that way until the Fed announcement which could then lay way to some swings.  We got essentially the exact opposite.  A gap in the morning essentially went no where to and through the Fed announcement and Bernanke Q&A with then a few spikes and ultimately the SPY closed roughly where it opened.

Speaking of the Fed statement, it was essentially the same as the previous statement minus some wording to acknowledge any changes in the economy and economic environment.  As expected, the Fed left benchmark rates unchanged and said it would continue buying mortgage-backed securities at a rate of $85B per month.

Stocks in the news today included FedEx (FDX) which gaped nearly 7% lower after reporting 3rd quarter EPS which missed street expectations while they did slightly beat on revenues and more importantly they lowered guidance for the remainder of the year.  Interestingly, FDX provided an outlook on U.S. GDP of 2% growth for the 2013 which is below the Fed’s expectations.

BlackBerry (BBRY) today got a hot upgrade from Morgan Stanley who took the stock to Overweight from Underweight and the price target all the way to $22 from $10.  Considering MS had a $10 target on a $16 stock, I am not sure I would call them the driving force or authority on the name but this is likely just a continuation of the move which started all the way back around September 2012 in the $6’s and looks like it wants to continue and take our the recent highs of $18.32.  As a reminder that you can review the 9 @ 9 which is the top upgrades and downgrades I find posted by 9am EST in the Upgrades/Downgrades section.

Also moving on an analyst note was Zynga (ZNGA) which closed down 3.75% after being downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America/Merrill.

Obagi Medical Products (OMPI) closed up over 28% after agreeing to be acquired by Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) for $19.75 per share in cash.

The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: CATO, IHS, KBH, LULU, MOV, PERY, ROST, SCHL, WOR

No chart tonight but I will follow-up with some thoughts tomorrow.  One note from the Watch List I will be moving the stops on BBBY up to $59.45 and if we get a gap higher tomorrow I may look to take half off.