Why Stocks Are Likely to Head Higher

Several nasty economic reports led to a lower opening yesterday. December
retail sales showed a gain, but when autos were subtracted they showed a net
loss, and the initial weekly jobless claims climbed to 3.63 million from 3.61
million the prior week. Continuing jobless claims were also higher. But some
better-than-expected corporate earnings from Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:
TSCO ) and Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS ), plus a stronger euro, played a
part in a rally that started at mid-morning and lasted until the close. At the
bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 22 points to 12,471, the S&P 500
gained 3 points at 1,296, and the Nasdaq gained 14 points to at 2,725. Advancers
were ahead of decliners on both exchanges by 1.6-to-1. Click to Enlarge The
index that hardly anyone talks about, but which had the highest total return
last year, the Dow Jones Utility Average, is still plodding along. It was the
story of "The Tortoise and the Hare" of Wall Street. While the public
focused on gold, tech and banks, the Dow Utility Index gained 14.8%, and on top
of that paid average dividends of around 3.5%.