Special announcement from Facebook (FB)!
And the stock runs!
What a change this is. The special announcements are supposed to be from Apple (AAPL) -- and Steve Jobs, before his untimely passing -- in those brilliant, beautifully staged announcements, as we saw with the iPhone and the iPad.
Now Facebook is having a meeting and everyone's all atwitter, something that our friend Rocco Pendola is talking about. With that, the stock powers through the level we haven't seen in ages.
Or at least it seems like ages, as the company's not been around all that long.
Of course, this isn't the only good news out today -- and, in fact, the rest is substantive. We are getting clarity on the relatively minor problems with Boeing's (BA) Dreamliner, and I stand with the CEO James McNerne when he tells us these problems are minor.
We've got a better-than-expected quarter from Danaher (DHR) on all fronts, as well. That's pretty amazing when you consider this is a multi-front story, particularly on test and measurement but also just in plain old industrial technologies.
Then there's the better-than-expected number from Stryker (SYK). This company had become a serial disappointer, and one that people had been concerned about, because of the new tax on medical devices as part of the Affordable Care Act.
Then there's the better-than-expected numbers from Seagate (STX), a personal-computer story if there ever were one. (This is not part and parcel with the Sanford Bernstein $29 break-up call for Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)).
Plus, we have some calls out that say SAP (SAP) is about to put out a better-than-expected pre-earnings announcement. That could be a huge call, especially after the disappointment that was Accenture (ACN).
Finally there is Alcoa (AA) itself. You may not want to think that much of Alcoa as a barometer, but I think that the transcript will tell you otherwise. This is one of the most thoughtful companies in the world and, as I said earlier, it's got a good handle on a host of businesses.
Better than expected. Juiced-up announcements from newly favored stocks.
What can I say? I thought this was supposed to be a terrible time. There were plenty of opportunities for that to happen, but it sure didn't happen this morning.
Random musings: 77x 2014 earnings, buy Amazon (AMZN)? That's 1999 talking -- and it's Goldman Sachs' recommendation today.
