Stocks Jump Ahead Of The Fed ( BBK, BBT, MDS, CBRX, AAPL, RIMM, DMND, YHOO, BKS, BWEN, CKEC )

Stocks Jump Sharply, DJIA Hits 13K (BBX, BBT, MDS, CBRX, AAPL, RIMM, DMND, YHOO, BKS, BWEN, CKEC) U.S. stocks jumped sharply on Tuesday as the government reported retail sales jumped impressively in February. Now, investors would wait for comment from the Federal Reserve later in the day.the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 92points at 12,052, The S&P 500 Index climbed 10.50 points to 1,382. The Nasdaq Composite COMP surged 25 points to 3,009.Earlier before the market open, The Commerce Department reported retail sales grew 1.1% to $407.8 billion in February, revising prior two months sales higher.Investors are seeing very less chance of rate cut in today’s meeting, but it would be notable to see how they elaborate the facts about the recent development. Analysts’ believe that there is not going much from the Fed, so all the focus would be on retail sales for February.

BankAtlantic Bancorp, Inc.(NYSE:BBX) is the biggest gainer and soared 63.21% to $3.15 after BB&T Corporation(NYSE:BBT) reported that it has midfield its deal to Florida-based BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc's (BBX.N) bank subsidiary to address litigation challenges, keeping the core provisions unchanged. As per the new agreement, BB&T will assume BankAtlantic's obligations related to $285 million worth of trust preferred securities. BankAtlantic Bancorp will pay all accrued interest on the securities, BB&T added.In the M&A news, Midas, Inc.(NYSE:MDS) was agreed to be acquired by TBC for $11.50 per share, representing a premium of 75% over Midas’ closing price on August 11, 2011, when the company announced its attention to begin strategic review.Columbia Laboratories Inc.(NASDAQ:CBRX) rose 3.20% as the company has employed Cowen to help the company in exploring potential strategic transactions.Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) rose another 1.54% to $560.51 and made another life-time high of $560.83. This morning, analyst at Jefferies upgraded the price target by $100 to $699. The stock has been under solid uptrend ever since it launched its new version of Ipad, for which sales are expected to be over 1 million units on the first day of its retailing.Research In Motion Limited (USA)(NASDAQ:RIMM) climbed 2.36% to $13.42 despite analyst at ThinkEquity reduced their price target on the stock by $6 to $12.

Diamond Foods, Inc.(NASDAQ:DMND) climbed 4.20% to $25.67 as the company projects its walnut costs to rise sharply as strong global demand has driven prices up 35% over last year's levels. The stock had been falling recently over accounting scandal.Wynn Resorts, Limited(NASDAQ:WYNN) rose 3.65% to $125.48Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) fell $0.05 or 0.46% to $14.42, off session high. Yahoo has sued Facebook, the social-networking giant and accusing it of infringing Yahoo’s patents tied to a range of Web technologies. As per the lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in San Jose, Calif., Yahoo has accused that Facebook had infringed 10 of Yahoo’s patents knowingly and improperly violated some of the company’s core intellectual properties. The patents are related to advertising, privacy and social networking features.Barnes & Noble, Inc.(NYSE:BKS) soared 6.61% to $14.51 after the company named Michael P. Huseby, a Cablevision Systems Corp. veteran with spinoff experience, as its chief financial officer, but said his spinoff expertise wasn't the main reason it chose him.Broadwind Energy Inc.(NASDAQ:BWEN) shares slumped over 11% after the company’s fourth-quarter loss trimmed, but missed analysts’ estimates by wide margin.Carmike Cinemas, Inc.(NASDAQ:CKEC) rose 19% to $10.81 as the company reversed a year ago losses in its fourth-quarter helped by improvement in its attendance and increased volumes.