Stocks Climb, AT&T Soars, E-Trade Suffers

Stock indexes closed up across the board on positive earnings and steeply declining oil prices. The DJIA added +29.88 to 11632.38, the Nasdaq advanced +21.92 to 2325.88 and the broad based S&P 500 climbed +5.19 to 1282.19.

AT&T (T | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) added 3.90% or $1.24 to $33.06/share on higher than expected earnings and wireless usage. AT&T is the contracted carrier for the Apple iPhone.

Costco (COST | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) declined 11.90% or $8.57 to $63.43/share after announcing that earnings will be well below analysts estimates. The company blames higher oil and energy prices for the underperformance.

E-Trade (ETFC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) gave back 15.80% or $0.64 to $3.41/share after posting a second quarter loss and declining trading commissions.

CEC Entertainment (CEC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) - The parent company of Chuck E. Cheese restaurants climbed 24.14% or $7.14 to $36.72/share on higher than expected third quarter profit projections.

Oil continued its downward slide, falling $4.17 to $124.25/barrel. Gold was smashed down today $30.70 to $917.80/oz and the VIX added 1.09% to $21.41.

Win up to $10,000 predicting the direction of a stock!