Stocks Open Higher Despite Fading Economic Recovery

Bargain hunters focused on the ease by which banks raised funds while mostly ignoring concerns that the economic recovery faced challenges as weekly unemployment claims climbed higher and wholesale prices rose. The Dow added 33 points to 8318 while Nasdaq gained 14 points to 1678.

On the upside

American Express (NYSE: AXP) offered $3 billion in debt notes at about 8% in order to raise funds to pay off TARP obligations.

JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) raised another $2.5 billion in debt in addition to last month's $3 billion offering.

The Federal Trade Commission issued an order to dismiss a 7-year old case against chipmaker Rambus (Nasdaq: RMBS).

On the downside

Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) posted earnings that met expectations as consumers remained budget-conscious. However, investors were hoping for better results for the world's largest retailer.

Casino operator MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) issued $1 billion in new stock and offered $1.5 billion in new debt in order to meet existing debt obligations.

Shares of Stealt Gas (Nasdaq: GASS) fell after the petroleum shipping compoany posted slightly higher revenues and sharply lower profits mostly due to currency hedging issues.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 10 to 9 on the NYSE and by 5 to 4 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 3 points to 474.