Hope For Economic Stimulus Package Lifts Markets

The markets continued to advance during the midday with investors hopeful that Congress will pass another economic stimulus package. The Dow leaped 182 points to 8245 while Nasdaq jumped 36 points to 1582.

On the upside

Although Omniture (Nasdaq: OMTR) widened fourth quarter losses, revenue surged as the company added over 250 new clients.

Fourth quarter earnings for TeleCommunication Systems (Nasdaq: TSYS) surged as revenue more than doubled to surpass expectations.

Shares of regional banks Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB), Huntington Bancshares (Nasdaq: HBAN) and Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) all rose as investors anticipate further government assistance for beleagured banks.

On the downside

Analysts downgraded Healthways (Nasdaq: HWAY) after the company warned that contract losses and the sluggish economy will negatively impact 2009 revenue.

Analysts downgraded Evergreen Solar (Nasdaq: ESLR) after the solar products maker swung to a fourth quarter loss.

Skechers USA (NYSE: SKX) warned of significant losses for the fourth quarter as merchandis markdowns increased prompting a downgrade.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 9 points to 464.