A strong night in China along with an earnings beat from a banking giant set the markets off to new 2016 highs today. The Dow 30 was up 187 (1.06%), the S&P 500 gained 20 (1.00%), and the Nasdaq 100 added 75 (1.55%).
Wal-Mart (WMT ) broke to new 2016 (0.54%) highs today as the retail giant said it is planning to expand its free curbside pickup service to eight new cities. The program will now be available in 30 different cities.
JetBlue (JBLU ) popped 4.55% today after the airline reported a 12.1% jump in revenue passenger miles from one year ago. JetBlue also announced this week that it plans to expand its premium Mint service after losing a bid to buy Virgin America.
JPMorgan (JPM ) kicked off the earnings season for the large banking institutions after it topped analyst expectations in the first quarter but reported a decline in profit. The stock surged 4.23% as JPMorgan posted earnings per share of $1.35 on revenue of $24.08 billion. The bank's profit fell nearly 6.7% from a year ago due in part to a slowdown in investment banking.
In the energy space shares of Peabody Energy (BTU) have been halted after the coal miner filed for bankruptcy protection, citing "unprecedented" pressures in the industry. Peabody's filing follows competitor Arch Coal, which filed for bankruptcy in January. This was the largest coal miner in the U.S.
IMAX (IMAX ) saw a nice 5.13% gain today after the company signed a new deal with Shanhair Aurora Movie Co. to add ten theaters in China. Locations for eight of the theaters have already been determined.
