Following Tuesday's 74-point rise, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Apple stock traded 9% higher at $611 overnight following second-quarter results that handsomely beat Wall Street estimates. Some 35 million iPhones and 12 million iPads were sold during January, February, and March, which pushed Q2 sales up 59% to $39 billion and helped earnings surge 92% to $12.30 per share. Cash flow of $14 billion helped Apple's bank balance top $100 billion.
Elsewhere, economic data may influence today's trading. Durable goods numbers will be published ahead of the open, while today's Federal Open Market Committee announcement at 12:30 p.m. EDT might provide clues to future economic policy -- including signals for further "quantitative easing" -- and perhaps some thoughts on the current eurozone debt crisis.
Over in Europe, investors continued to regain their poise following various political fears and the sharp sell-off on Monday. French, Spanish, and German shares advanced 1%-plus in Wednesday morning trade to consolidate similar gains made yesterday.
In the U.K., however, news of a "double-dip" recession restricted movements on the FTSE 100
Among British shares, GlaxoSmithKline
However, Glaxo is not the UK blue chip that has attracted billionaire Warren Buffett to invest more than $1 billion. The legendary investor recently bought a famous British name with global expansion potential -- and you can discover the name of the company and the price he paid in this latest free report.
Back home, earnings season remains in full swing today, with Boeing