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US stocks rallied today as upbeat results from technology bellwether Intel Corp and JP Morgan helped to lift sentiment. A slump in the dollar, which hit another record low against the euro following high inflation numbers in Europe, also provided a lift to commodities and their related stocks.

All ten economic sectors posted a gain, motivated by the fact that the announced earnings were better than feared.

After the market closed today, IBM posted its quartely profits that exceeded the $1.45 per share predicted by analysts; the company had a 1Q profit of $1.65 per share. They also increased  2008 outlook and are very optimistic about the future.

In other news, Sallie Mae lost $104 million in the 1Q and the oil futures jump to record over $115 on supply concerns.

 Tommorrow´s calendar:

• Jobless claims figure will be released at 8:30 am. 375.000 is the expected amount.
• Natural gas inventories released at 10:30, affecting oil-related stocks.
• Money supply figure at 4:30 pm
• Important earning announcements:
  • Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Expected EPS: -0.48
  • Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK). Expected EPS: 0.71
  • Continental Airlines (CAL). Expected EPS: -0.66
  • E Trade (ETFC). Expected EPS: -0.1
  • General Motors (GM). Expected EPS: -0.52
  • Google (GOOG). Expected EPS: 4.16
  • Merrill Lynch (MER). Expected EPS: -1.98
  • Nokia (NOK). Expected EPS: 0.56

The earning season started quite bullish, since low expectations by analysts give investors the possibility of seeing a good side to a bad financial statement. Nowadays, expectations mean more that the actual businesses, at least when earning announcements come.

This said, we expect the market to continue rallying, since most companies will probably exceed the consensus for their results. Nevertheless, this week´s reporting by Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Bank of America will be vital for the growing confidence to keep raising.