Broken Record: Dow Makes Another High Mark

The stock market continues to dazzle and amaze amid a flurry of spectacular earning reports from American corporations, the latest being computer software behemoth Microsoft, which blew away estimates on Thursday.

Reporting after the final bell on Thursday, Microsoft reported earnings for the quarter ended March 31 rose to $4.93 billion, or 50 cents per share, up from $2.98 billion, or 29 cents in same period last year, a gain of 65%. Analysts were seeking 46 cents, so expect the company that Bill built to get a boost at tomorrow's opening.

Elsewhere, ExxonMobil reported its best 1st quarter ever, earning a staggering $9.3 billion, or 1.62 per share, up from $8.4 billion, or $1.37 per share for the same period of 2006.

Despite the generally good news, the indices were split, as both the NYSE Composite and S&P 500 suffered losses while the Dow and NASDAQ gained.

Dow 13,105.50 +15.61; NASDAQ 2,554.46 +6.57; S&P 500 1,494.25 -1.17; NYSE Composite 9,715.49 -31.08

Volume was once again strong, though profit-takers kept the markets in check throughout the session. Declining issues held a slight 11-10 edge over advancers. There were 513 new highs to just 93 new lows.

Oil slipped 78 cents to close just a shade above $65 per barrel, but precious metals suffered hefty losses as the dollar strengthened against the Euro and Pound. Gold lost $9.40, closing at $678.00. Silver lost 44 cents to end the day at $13.46.

Despite Thursday's lackluster performance, all indices should show gains for the week as a whole, mostly attributable to Wednesday's blowout performance.