TradingMarkets' 7 Stocks You Need To Know About For Friday

Stocks rose Thursday after Rita was downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane and oil prices fell. Crude fell to $66.50/barrel.

Jobless claims rose 8,000 to 432,000--the highest level since July 2003. The Conference Board's index of leading indicators fell 0.2% in August

After the close, 3Com (COMS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported 0.11, ex-items, and guided higher. PalmOne (PALM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) beat by 0.04 and issued in-line guidance. The stocks traded lower after hours. ElectroScientific (ESIO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) beat by 0.04 Starbucks (SBUX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) announced an additional 5 million share stock buyback. Alcoa (AA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) guided lower and now sees $0.27 - $0.31 vs. the consensus $0.44. Tibco (TIBX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) beat by a penny. Lockheed Martin (LMT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) increased the amount of their share repurchase program, adding 45 million shares. The company also boosted its dividend 20% to $0.30. Electroglas (EGLS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) beat by 0.13.

Now, here are a few stocks to watch on Friday:

Building Materials (BMHC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) will be in focus as Rita nears landfall.

Refiners like Tesoro (TSO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) will also be a focus.

You can see what Florida Rock (FRK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) did after Katrina...

Home Depot (HD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) had a good volume day.

Fluor (FLR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) may rally from this pullback.

Starbucks (SBUX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) announced an additional 5 million share stock buyback.

UBS started coverage on Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) with a Buy--target $52.

Brice Wightman