Upbeat economic reports helped keep the rally going after a brief pause early in the week. On Monday the Institute for Supply Management's October manufacturing index rose to 59, tying the reading from last August and the highest since March of 2011. Saudi Arabia announced they will lower prices of oil exported to the United States, and stocks of energy companies like Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and Exxon Mobile (NYSE: XOM) were down on the news. On Tuesday, markets declined slightly as investors waited to see the outcome of the elections. Factory orders for September were down .6%, about in line with expectations, however, September’s trade deficit widened to $43 billion as a weakening global economy reduced demand for American exports. On Wednesday, with the elections out of the way, markets rallied on news of the unexpectedly strong ADP October employment report. It came in at 230,000, up from 225,000. Both the S&P; 500 and Dow Industrials closed at record highs. On Thursday, stocks continued up, boosted by the European Central Bank’s promise to increase stimulus efforts if necessary. Jobless claims for the week ending November 1 were 278,000, down from 287,000 and the four week average was 279,000, a new 14 year low. Once again, both the S&P; 500 and Dow Industrials closed at record highs. On Friday, the Labor Department reported nonfarm payrolls for October were at 214,000 lower than expectations and lower than 248,000 from the prior month. The unemployment rate edged down slightly to 5.8%. Markets were up slightly on the news. Now let’s take a look at some stocks. Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) released their first earnings report since debuting on the New York Stock Exchange on September 19th. Not surprising to many, since tapping into the US market, Alibaba reported a surge in revenue of 54%, year-over-year, to $2.74 billion. Alibaba’s mobile revenue increased by more than 1000%, jumping from $54 million to $606 million. Shares traded to a new 52-week high of almost $112 shortly after the report. Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) shares traded higher Wednesday after the Japanese car company raised its full year forecast due to a stronger than expected performance in their North America market. Originally, Toyota expected net earnings for the year ending March 2015 to be about $15.5 billion, but now they estimate it to be approximately $17.5 billion. Zillow, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) shares plunged down Thursday, from almost $104 to $95, after the company announced a third quarter loss of $16 million attributed to merger and acquisition costs. Revenue, however, increased by 66% to $88.6 million which exceeded analysts’ forecasts. Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported a third quarter loss of almost $75 million, more than double the loss from the third quarter of the previous year, but shares traded higher due to record orders of their Model S sedan. The widened loss for the quarter was attributed to the research and development costs for Tesla’s SUV, the Model X, and their new all-wheel drive system.

• published: 07 Nov 2014
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