Dow Hits 6 Yr High

FoxNews Stocks were mixed Thursday after earnings reports from General Motors Corp. (GM) and Merck Co. Inc. (MRK) pushed the Dow Jones industrial average up to a six-year high while the Nasdaq composite sagged along with eBay Inc. (EBAY). Dow component General Motors' stock gained 10 percent after the automaker record revenues along with reported its sixth straight quarterly loss. Drugmaker Merck & Co., also a Dow component, reported an 11 percent jump in first-quarter profit. The Dow rose 64.12, or 0.57 percent, to 11,342.89. That was the blue chips's best close since it settled at 11,351.30 on Jan. 20, 2000. Broader stock indicators were barely mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.53, or 0.12 percent, to 1,311.46, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 8.33, or 0.35 percent, to 2,362.55. Stocks were mixed Thursday after earnings reports from General Motors Corp. (GM) and Merck Co. Inc. (MRK) pushed the Dow Jones industrial average up to a six-year high while the Nasdaq composite sagged along with eBay Inc. (EBAY). Dow component General Motors' stock gained 10 percent after the automaker record revenues along with reported its sixth straight quarterly loss. Drugmaker Merck & Co., also a Dow component, reported an 11 percent jump in first-quarter profit. The Dow rose 64.12, or 0.57 percent, to 11,342.89. That was the blue chips's best close since it settled at 11,351.30 on Jan. 20, 2000. Broader stock indicators were barely mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.53, or 0.12 percent, to 1,311.46, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 8.33, or 0.35 percent, to 2,362.55. "The message this week is pretty simple: People are looking for an excuse to buy stocks rather than sell stocks," said Ryan Larson, equity trader at Voyageur Asset Management, a subsidiary of RBC Dain Rauscher. "A year ago, $70 oil would have been the death of us; today, the market is able to digest it and look for positives." Don't expect Hillary Clinton to blame the economy on Bush, he can't do it all.