Stocks got a little pre-weekend boost from long-awaited news from the Federal Reserve about potential plans for future measures to bolster the economy. As everyone's come to expect from the Fed, the pronouncement was vague, and details were sketchy, but that leaves investors plenty of room to make their own interpretations of what the central bank is likely to do. At least looking at the movement in the stock market, the assessment was generally positive, with the Dow Jones Industrials (INDEX: ^DJI) ending the day up 90 points, making back most of the ground the average lost the previous day.

Some Dow stocks, however, got much more of a boost than others. Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), and its 2.3% jump, led the Dow. Yet, as Fool tech analyst Andrew Tonner wrote today, Intel's biggest appeal right now is its cheap valuation. Even after today's gains, the stock still trades barely above 10 times earnings. If the company can capitalize on any of its multiple growth prospects, it's poised for huge gains.

American Express (NYSE: AXP) also gained almost 2%. The company's Campus Edition prepaid card is getting a lot of attention during the back-to-school season, as it offers no monthly maintenance fee. Its $2 fee for withdrawals after the first each month, however, could lead to some additional revenue for the card giant.

Finally, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) made a nice push forward, gaining more than 1.5%. Investors are getting excited about the potential for a new Windows Phone-based device. With Nokia (NYSE: NOK) slated to have a press event next week, new releases to the Lumia line could be coming. Whether that's enough to overshadow the iPhone 5 is an entirely different story, but Microsoft has been quietly rising lately, even though it remains reasonably priced.

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