Pre-Market Update – Stocks Gapping Higher (AAPL, ETN, SLB, HSY, SNDK)

Published on Wednesday, 21 July 2010 08:00 Written by Christian Paolinetti

New York, Jul 21^st (TradersHuddle.com) - The market will be opening today with bullish bias extending yesterday’s gains after strong earnings from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) boosted investor confidence. Here are some notable stocks that are weighing positively on the market.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will be gapping higher by more than 3.4% from its previous close. Apple stock was in desperate need of a blockbuster quarter to serve as a catalyst to reverse the negative momentum that started with the negative iPhone 4G antenna problems. Apple released its earnings results after the bell yesterday, and they were the best quarterly results ever presented, driven by Macintosh computer and iPad sales. Apple sales surged more than 60% in the second quarter year over year, while net income jumped 78%.

Eaton Corporation (NYSE:ETN) is also signaling a higher open by trading higher by 1.2% in pre-market price action. Eaton reported quarterly earnings this morning, beating Wall Street earnings per share estimates by more than 19 cents. The company also boosted its 2010 outlook and raised its dividend to 58 cents per share.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) is adding to yesterday’s gains in today’s pre-market by close to 1%. Schlumberger shares will be opening right at resistance, so will be interesting to see if bulls step in at these levels, considering that the company reports earnings on Friday July 23^rd.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) is also trading higher in pre-market price action by more than 2%. Hershey will be opening very close to 52 week high territory, as investors position themselves on the stock that will be releasing its quarterly report this coming Thursday.

Lastly SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) will be opening higher this morning by close to 1% from its Tuesday close building upon yesterday’s reversal pattern, given the stock corrected by more than 8% in the last 5 trading days. Traders are positioning for SanDisk quarterly release, as the company is set to announce its earnings report today after the close.