Stocks Edge Up, Dow Extends Rally to 5 Weeks

U.S. stocks finished with slight gains on Friday, lifting the Dow industrials to a fifth weekly gain, after Wall Street dug through earnings reports that included a steep profit drop for Expedia Inc. and a better-than-expected profit from Starbucks Corp. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3.22 points, or 0.02%, to 15,558.83. The S&P 500 index added 1.40 points, or 0.08%, to 1,691.65. The Nasdaq Composite rose 7.98 points, or 0.22%, to 3,613.16.

Expedia Inc.’s (NASDAQ:EXPE) second-quarter earnings fell 32% as the online travel agent reported higher costs that offset growth in revenue. The company reported a profit of $71.5 million, or 51 cents a share, down from a year-earlier profit of $105.2 million, or 76 cents a share.

Starbucks, the coffee retailer, late Thursday posted a rise in profit and revenue for its fiscal third quarter and increased
its 2013 earnings outlook.

Consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in six years. The index as calculated by Thomson Reuters and the University of  Michigan shows a reading of 85.1 in July up a full point from June. Still, traders seemed more focused on earnings, which for the most part were lackluster.

JP Morgan Chase & Co is exiting physical commodities trading, the bank said in a surprise statement on Friday, as Wall Street’s role in the trading of oil tankers, coffee beans and metals comes under intense political and regulatory pressure.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday said it was proposing a $2.75 million fine for Boeing’s commercial airplane division for failing to take prompt action to fix a problem with fasteners discovered in 2008 on its model 777 airplanes.

Steven Cohen’s hedge fund, SAC Capital Advisors, pleaded not guilty to insider trading charges in federal court on Friday. The firm’s general counsel, Peter Nussbaum, flanked by five high-powered defense lawyers, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in New York.

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