A September to remember for the Dow

Stocks rose the last day of the quarter, with the Dow posting its first September gain in seven years. Crude finished at $66.24.

Energy stocks gained close to 20% for Q3. Natural gas rose 80% in Q3 with gasoline rising 44% and crude oil, +13%.

Canada's Supreme Court upheld the right of provinces to sue the tobacco industry. Altria (MO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) gained 0.06 to close at 73.71.

Google (GOOG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) co-founder Larry Page filed to sell 1.2 million shares, Bloomberg reported. Separately, the stock rallied on speculation that the stock would be added to the S&P 500 at the close of business tonight or possible Monday. GOOG rose 6.84, closing at 316.46.

Micron (MU | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported a surprise profit for Q4, beating estimates.

Machinists at Boeing (BA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) approved a three-year contract, ending a near month-long strike. Separately, Aeroflot said they will buy two to five Boeing 767 jets.

AMR (AMR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) said it will temporarily cancel 15 flights from its Chicago O'Hare and Dallas DFW hubs because of the high cost of jet fuel.

Personal income in August fell 0.1%; personal spending fell 0.5%. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was 76.9 vs. 78 consensus. The Chicago PMI was 60.5 vs 52.0 consensus.

Strong Sectors were:    Airlines  (XAL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) +2.28%        Semis (SOX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) +1.92%      Disk Drives (DDX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) +1.92%     

Weak sectors were:     Oil Services  (OSX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) -2.30%         Oil (OIX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) -1.40%      Gold  (XAU | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) -1.37%    

Stocks in the news:

VeriSign (VRSN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) warned for Q3. The stock was downgraded to peer perform at RBC Capital.

SafeNet (SFNT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) got whacked on Thursday, but after the close the company announced it got a $150 million contract from the Department of Defense.

Ceradyne (CRDN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) received a ceramic body armor order from the U.S. Army and Marines worth $9.1 million.

National Semiconductor (NSM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) has an analyst meeting on Friday.

Brice Wightman