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For the fourth straight trading session, U.S. stocks climbed on news that General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and other companies beat quarterly expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average today fell 16 points to 16,408.5; the S&P 500 gained 2.5 points to 1,864.8; the Nasdaq rose 9.2 points to 4,095.5.
Here's your recap of today's major market events:
- Insider Trading at BP: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a senior BP (NYSE ADR: BP) employee with insider trading, after he dumped shares in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon. Keith A. Seilhan, who spearheaded the company's cleanup from the Gulf oil spill, allegedly dumped the shares after he learned of the extent of the spill, before it was officially reported. At the time, it was publicly reported that the spill was expanding at a rate of about 5,000 barrels per day, while BP's private estimates were closer to 50,000 barrels per day. In dumping his family-owned shares, Seilhan avoided a 48% stock loss, equal to about $100,000.
- Another Money Service: Another titan is going to enter the money transfer sector. On Thursday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) announced plans to create its own domestic money transfer service called "Walmart-2-Walmart." The strategic partnership with Ria Money Transfer will directly compete against Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU). Wal-Mart will begin its service on April 24. The new service allows consumers to transfer money across the company's 4,000 retail centers. Western Union is already feeling the impact. Its shares slipped by 4.5% this afternoon.
- Manufacturing Rises: The Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index in the regional factory sector hit 16.6 in April, reaching its highest point since September 2013. The data is a strong bounce from the 9.0 in March and -6.3 in February. The Philly Fed had previously stated the impact of winter weather on business activity in the region in previous statements.
