Alcoa Profits, Wall St. Gains

Stocks unexpectedly rose today with a surprise profit from Alcoa, gaining 1.1 percent. Jim Awad, managing director at Zephy Management in New York said, "You had more positive economic news, and Alcoa numbers were better than expected on both revenue and net income. So that lends credibility to the bulls' thesis that the economy is gaining momentum". This positive news is reinforced by stronger U.S. retail stores' sales and my be a sign that our economy may be on the beginning or just about to begin on the road to economic recovery.