Judging Thursday

Stocks swooned today, despite positive earnings from some big-name companies. Maybe, it was the decision by Harriet Miers to withdraw her name from consideration for the Supreme Court. While this does not have a direct impact on stock prices, it's all about confidence, and confidence in 1600 Pennsylvania is waning. Oil stocks continue to be the big winners, with Exxon reporting an increase in earnings of 75%! Wow, can you say "windfall?" The Dow and the S&P 500 fell over 1% on the day, while NASDAQ dropped about 1.7%. Microsoft posted good news for the beleagured tech sector, with an increase of 24%. COME ON FRIDAY! Dow -115.03 NASDAQ -36.24 S&P 500 -12.48