Stocks Jump To Session High (KFT, FB, NTAP, MNST, YELP)

U.S. stocks continued to edge higher with the DOW gained for the fourth consecutive day. Earlier stocks opened slightly lower on the heels of Thursday’s three-notch downgrade of Spain’s credit rating and no signals from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that another round of monetary stimulus is on the way.

The president said the U.S. financial system is better positioned to absorb shocks like those emanating from Europe than a few years ago, but warned that the uncertainty from overseas is something of a weight on conditions here. “The sooner they act the more decisive and concrete their action, the sooner people and markets will regain some confidence,” he said at the White House, according to Bloomberg. Obama expressed sympathy for the sacrifices made by Greek citizens, but said that the country leaving the euro would ultimately result in even more pain.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 46.96​(0.38%) to 12,507.92, and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained 4.54​(0.35%) at 1,319.53. The Nasdaq Composite surged 13.92 (0.49% at 2,844.94.

Kraft Foods Inc(NYSE:KFT) made news, announcing it will switch its listing from the NYSE to the Nasdaq June 26. The move by the company, which is spinning off its North American grocery business to focus on its faster-growing global snacks segment, is certainly a welcome one for Nasdaq as it continues to deal with the black eye of Facebook’s rocky trading debut. Shares of KFT jumped 0.31% to $38.27.

Facebook Inc(NASDAQ:FB) rebounded 3.36% to $27.20  after researcher ComScore Inc. suggested that marketers can use the site effectively to spur purchases. Facebook Inc. the social-networking company that held an initial public offering last month, introduced an online directory for downloadable appsThe service, called App Center, debuts with 600 applications, including Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) (ZNGA)’s “Draw Something” game and Pinterest Inc.’s online bulletin board, Menlo Park, California- based Facebook said yesterday in a blog posting and a press conference in San Francisco.

NetApp Inc.(NASDAQ:NTAP) slid 2.84% after analyst at  Barclays downgraded the stock  to Equal Weight on valuation, citing macroeconomic and FX headwinds, plus increased competition. The firm lowers its price target to $34 from $35.

Monster Beverage Corp(NASDAQ:MNST) rose 2.20% r in advance of a shareholder meeting (webcast) set to start in less than an hour. SA author David Silver says the company won't be casualty of a slow economy, with an energy drink craze just hitting its stride in the U.S. and that has room to grow globally.

Yelp Inc(NYSE:YELP) soared 11% after stumbling around on Monday. While the company has made some inroads in growing its global presence, the rally appears to be driven partially by technical factors and a squeeze on the shorts who raised their interest when Facebook starting faltering. Another big consideration for Yelp is that the iPhone's chatty assistant Siri appears to be a fan.