US Market Commentary(After Market Close): Closing out the day

Stocks edged higher today, adding to the week's big gains after the government issued a mixed trade report. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit declined 3.5 percent to $30.7 billion in August, as imports fell on lower oil demand. The battered dollar rallied, Treasuries plunged as Bernanke said rates needed to stay low until economy improves but Fed eventually will have to hike. Wall Street is bracing for next week's earnings reports and economic data for indications the recovery has started. Among the high volume stocks today Yahoo (YHOO), Dryships (DRYS), Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR), Discover Financial Services (DFS) and Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (SPPI) moved lower on the day while Texas Instruments (TXN), NetApp (NTAP), Rambus (RMBS), I Flow (IFLO) and Smithfield Foods (SFD) closed higher. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index moved down 1.08 to close the day at 23.10, a 4.47% decrease for the day. The Put/Call Volume Ratio is at 0.77 while the Put/Call Open Interest ratio is at 0.90.