GLOBAL MARKETS

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Polycom, Mentor Graphics, ZST Digital Networks, EZCORP, and Stein Mart. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Radio One, Asia Entertainment & Resources, Pool Corp., Penn National Gaming, Universal Display, Cymer, and Rambus.

US Treasuries are called the “risk-free assets” of the financial world. However, the moniker of “risk-free asset” may actually belong to another country.

To get exposure, most investors immediately considered equities, which have been historically correlated with economic growth. However, an even better option may be the forex carry trade.

U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday as robust earnings from Apple, Morgan Stanley and General Electric lifted the market, but weaker-than- expected reports on jobless claims and Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index kept gains in check.

Silver Prices extended their Dollar gains to 7.7% for this week alone, also reaching new multi-decade and all-time highs vs. the world's other major currencies.

After ignoring the worsening euro zone peripheral debt crisis for the last month, participants in the currencies market may finally be paying attention to it.

U.S. stocks advanced in early trade on Thursday as robust earnings from Apple, Morgan Stanley and General Electric offset higher-than-forecast jobless claims data.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Thursday are: F5 Networks, UnitedHealth Group, Charles Schwab, SLM Corp, Yum Brands, Nokia Corp, Noble Corp, Chipotle Mexican, Ingersoll-Rand and Halliburton.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: TradeStation Group, Biogen Idec, Select Comfort, Datalink, Entegris, Apple, and Qualcomm. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: ZST Digital Networks, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Sina, Lam Research, and Vodafone Group.

US stocks rallied on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing near three-year highs, as upbeat earnings from major technology companies’ boosted sentiment for corporate-profit trends.

Jefferies & Co. said Nokia Corp.'s (NYSE: NOK) results threw out no worse news than it had expected but it maintained underperform thesis nonetheless.

US stocks rallied on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing near three-year highs, as upbeat earnings from major technology companies’ boosted sentiment for corporate-profit trends.

Shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) touched a new life-time high of $56.27 on Wednesday. The company said it will commit to investing $37 million in products and services to promote high-growth entrepreneurship across the country in partnership with President Barack Obama’s Startup America campaign.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Select Comfort, Plexus, F5 Networks, Datalink, TradeStation Group, Qualcomm, and Apple. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Lam Research, Sina, Gilead Sciences, Amgen, and Cheesecake Factory.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Wednesday are: China Security & Surveillance, SLM Corp, Tempur-pedic International, Yum! Brands and Gardner Denver. The top after-market NYSE losers are: Goodrich Corp, Tele Norte Leste Participacoes, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Elan Corp and General Growth Properties.

The resumption of the global risk-on rally late Tuesday illustrates how trends work in the financial markets.

AT&T says even without having an exclusive deal on the iPhone, it gained subscribers in the first quarter.

Gold Bullion jumped above $1500 per ounce in London on Wednesday, setting new Dollar and Sterling highs but falling sharply against the Euro as the single currency rose to its highest level since 2009.

US stocks rallied in early trade on Wednesday as upbeat earnings from major technology companies’ boosted sentiment for corporate-profit trends.

Major U.S. stock indexes jumped more than 1 percent at the open on Wednesday as upbeat earnings from major technology companies’ boosted sentiment for corporate-profit trends.

FBR Capital Markets believes Adobe Systems Inc.'s (NASDAQ: ADBE) flagship offering, Creative Suite (CS), is losing its ability to drive Adobe’s business and doesn't see much to materially offset this. The brokerage downgraded its rating on shares of Adobe to underperform from market perform and lowered its price target to $28 from $33.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Wednesday are: Williams Companies, Freeport-McMoRan, Advanced Micro Devices, salesforce.com, Sandisk Corp, Applied Materials, Textron, Intuitive Surgical, International Business machines and Wells Fargo.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: ASML Holding, Rediff.com India, Intel, Sify Technologies, Aixtron, and Wynn Resorts. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Cree, TriMas, and Adobe Systems.

Shares of Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) touched a new life-time high of $83.99 on Tuesday. The company said it received positive opinion for Avonex Pen against multiple sclerosis from the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.

U.S. stock markets gained for the first time in four days on Tuesday as stronger-than-expected report on new home starts and encouraging quarterly results from Johnson & Johnson helped lift the markets.

Power company AES Corp. (NYSE: AES) announced an agreement to acquire smaller rival DPL Inc. (NYSE: DPL) for $3.5 billion, or $30 a share, in cash. The deal is the latest in the wave of consolidation in the power industry, as companies seek to add customers to offset high regulatory barriers and aging power grids.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: CDC Corp., Nanometrics, Intel, Yahoo!, and Hologic. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Cree, TriMas, Ceradyne, ViroPharma, and Veeco Instruments.

U.S. stocks rose Tuesday, clawing back some of the previous day's losses as positive earnings news helped buoy shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65.16 points, or 0.53%, to finish near the day's highs at 12266.75. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 7.48 points, or 0.57%, to 1312.62 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 9.59 points, or 0.35%, to 2744.97. The gains came one day after the Dow fell 140 points on credit-ratings firm Standard & Poor's decision to lower its ...

Gold prices continue to defy gravity and barreled past the psychologically important level of $1,500 per ounce in intraday trading on Tuesday. It briefly hit $1,500.50 and settled at $1494.50. Both figures are record highs.