N's Over S's - Nasdaq Outperforming

The markets opened in negative territory, but the Nasdaq has pulled into the green in early trading.

Costco (COST) reported a strong quarter, beating consensus estimates. The stock spiked higher by $5 to a new high.

GOOG is getting more broker upgrades. Today, Merrill (MER) raised its price target to $740 from $590. They're even more bullish than me!

Alcoa (AA) reported earnings yesterday that were nothing to write home about. But the buyback was breathtaking. AA increased its buyback from 10% of shares outstanding to a whopping 25%. They are going to buy back a quarter of all its shares. Wow, that should keep a floor under the stock.

I think this is notable, and that we are likely to see a lot more buyback announced and increased when companies report their earnings over the next several weeks.

Asian markets were up again overnight, with more new highs in China. Bond yields are steady, with the 10-year around 4.65%. And oil is steady, with crude prices just above $80.

long GOOG