U.S. stocks rally on earnings, bargain-buying

U.S. stocks jumped Wednesday, erasing most of the previous day’s bruising losses as a positive outlook from the financial sector and a spate of strong earnings from airlines and other bellwethers gave investors reasons for optimism.

Christian Thwaites, president and chief executive of Sentinel Investments, said Tuesday’s sharp decline -- triggered by China’s interest-rate hike and questions over U.S. banks’ foreclosure process -- was overdone.

“They’re minor stories in a longer-term play,” Thwaites said. “It’s a hiccup on sentiment, but it not’s going to derail what the market is trying to do.”

Thwaites said he was encouraged by the good showing in energy and materials stocks, arguing that expectations of Treasury purchases by the Federal Reserve were pushing investors into alternative currencies. “Being in energy stocks is protection against that, and there’s also going to be global demand to buoy that,” he said.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-bounce-back-after-boeing-earnings-2010-10-20?siteid=yhoof

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