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NYC, NY, United States (AHN) – After a choppy morning, stocks gained some ground Wednesday afternoon following comments from the Federal Reserve that it would leave rates unchanged and does not plan any changes until late 2014.

Since August, the Fed has maintained in policy statements that it planned to keep its benchmark rate at a record low until at least mid 2013, as long as the economy remained weak. It is now certain that rates will remain at historic lows even longer.

The Dow and the S&P spent much of the morning in negative territory. But just before 2 p.m., the Dow Jones Industrial was up 54 points, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 8 points. The tech heavy NASDAQ, boosted by blockbuster, record breaking numbers from Apple Inc., was better by 29 points.

To the disappoint of some, the Fed did not announce any future bond purchases.

The following statement ended the two day FOMC meeting, “To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with the dual mandate, the Committee expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy. In particular, the Committee decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that economic conditions-including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run-are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through 2014.”

Low interest rates make stocks more attractive, and shortly after the Fed’s decision on interest rates, the Dow perked up.

In commodities, oil rose 83 cents to $99.75. Gold glistened, rising $38.60 to $1,702.90 a troy ounce and silver soared 82 cents to $32.87.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Wall Street opened mixed to lower Friday morning following earnings reports from General Eclectic and Google that disappointed.

Just after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, the S&P 500 Index was down 3 points and the NASDAQ fell 9 points.

Weighing on stocks was an earnings report from Dow component General Electric. Shares of GE dropped more than 2 percent after the largest U.S. conglomerate reported roughly flat profit from continuing operations, and revenues that missed estimates.

Meanwhile, Internet giant Google tumbled more than 8 percent, or 52.38, to 586.66, after the search engine reported quarterly profit and revenue that missed Wall Street estimates. Google blamed the shortfall on declining search advertising rates.

Microsoft shares rose 3 percent after decent earnings, and IBM rose $4.87 to $185.45 after giving a strong outlook on a strong earnings report.

Investors are still keeping a close eye on developments in Europe regarding the sovereign debt crisis.

Greece and its private bondholders were “converging toward” a long-awaited debt swap deal, with an initial agreement coming as early as Friday that would prevent a default from Greece.

In commodities, oil was trading off $1.19 to $99.20 a barrel, and gold was down $1.20 to $1,652.90 a troy ounce.

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Fort Worth, TX, United States (AHN) – RadioShack slashed its full year outlook and posted a 30 percent drop in first quarter profit on Monday, sending shares of the Texas company falling more than 3 percent.

Quarterly net income was $35.1 million, or 33 cents a share, down from $50.1 million, or 39 cents, during the same period last year. Profit included costs related with early retirement of debts amounting to $4.1 million, or 2 cents a share.

Revenue rose 2.1 percent to $1.06 billion from $1.04 billion a year ago. It was short of expectations among analysts of $1.066 billion.

Sales were fueled by a $28.9 million rise revenue from kiosks, a partnership with Target that the company plans to expand by summer. The company’s mobility platform, which includes Sprint and AT&T postpaid wireless and prepaid wireless handsets, also grew 11 percent.

The increase in sales was offset in part by a $4.5 million drop in revenue from company-operated stores in the United States, and continued weak demand for digital converter boxes, television antennas and related products. Digital music players and other products under the consumer electronics unit, except for laptops, also performed weakly for a 14.8 percent drop.

Comparable store sales for company-operated stores and kiosks fell 0.6 percent due to a decline in sales in the retailer’s postpaid wireless venture with T-Mobile.

Moreover, Fort Worth-based RadioShack said its general and administrative expenses rose from $386 million, or 36.3 percent of sales, from $380.7 million, or 36.5 percent of sales. The expenses resulted from increased employee costs associated with the expansion of Target kiosks.

RadioShack cut its earnings guidance for the year to $1.60 to $1.80 a share, from $1.60 to $1.90. It expects revenue growth in the low to mid-single-digit percent range, driven by the strength of its mobility platform.

“We expect the softness in our business to continue during the second quarter before we begin to see the benefits of our merchandising and sales initiatives improving both revenue and income trends in the back half of the year,” said president and chief financial officer Jim Gooch. “In addition, growth in our mobility business will be aided by our tablet computer offerings, which are being introduced this month.”

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices fell Wednesday, pushing yields up, as positive corporate news boosted investors’ interest in stocks and moving away from the relative safety of U.S. bonds and the dollar. “Treasurys are lower after strong earnings from tech giants Intel and IBM have given a solid lift to global stock markets,” said strategists at RBS Securities. Yields on 10-year notes , which move inversely to prices, rose 3 basis points to 3.40%. As the only data of the day, the U.S. will report new homes sales at 10 a.m. Eastern time. Also, the Federal Reserve will purchase inflation-indexed debt in its last buyback of the week.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Revenue grew 27 percent but profit, which was up 18 percent, was held down by rising expenses. An unhappy stock market sent its shares down 5 percent in after hours trading.

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You have a nice profit after a great entry and a steady rise. However, you want wait to sell the stock until after the trade qualifies as a long term gain. However, the stock’s earnings report date is… Jay Leavitt April 10, 2011

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Dubai shares rose to an almost two- month high on bets quarterly profits will beat expectations and as the emirate’s bonds climbed to the highest on record last week after Dubai World and creditors signed a debt accord.

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By Chris McKhann

Traders are selling the upside on natural gas company El Paso ( EP ) as it flirts with its highest levels in more than two years.

EP is up 2.92 percent to $18.30 this morning. That follows gains yesterday after earnings came out. The stock did surge to $18.52 last Thursday — its highest price since July 2008 — but closed at $18. Shares have double Complete Story »

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TORONTO – The Toronto stock market headed for a slightly higher open Wednesday amid rising oil prices and mixed earnings reports. Higher oil prices helped push the Canadian dollar up 0.26 of a cent …

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Stock index futures rose on Wednesday after estimate-beating results from Dell and a deal for Sanofi-Aventis to buy Genzyme for $20.1 billion in cash.

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