Blog Posts by Dan Berman

Shares of Yelp (YELP) have been surging 9% in reaction to its earnings report. Yelp impressed investors even though it lost 8-cents a share; consensus was for minus 6-cents. Key here were better-than-expected revenues. They rose 68% from a year ago. Yelp is also improving its outlook for the year citing success with display ads on mobile phones-- something it seems to have in common with Facebook. Shares are now up more than 35% since the start of the year.

Next is Energizer (ENR), the parent company of Schick razors and related products. The stock has been trading lower despite beating estimates with its earnings, posting $1.35 a share on $1.1 billion in revenue. The problem here: the company claims its sales are hurting because rival Proctor and Gamble (PG) has been bombarding customers with promotions on its Gilette products. By the Church and Dwight (CHD), the maker of Arm and Hammer says PG has been pulling similar stunts in the laundry aisle. But Church and Dwight is out with

Sell in May and Go Away! Is it good advice or not? Yahoo! Finance's "Hot Stock Minute" host Lauren Lyster talks with Yahoo! Finance Senior Columnist Mike Santoli who just wrote an article on the concept. The two also talk about the Federal reserve Bank's latest guidance on the future of its bond buying efforts at quantitative easing as well as the European Central Bank's decision to cut interest rates.

Stocks ended the day 1% lower across the board pressured by the Fed, weak economic data, and some earnings misses. The Federal Reserve announced it will stay the course with its $85 billion monthly asset purchase program. In the latest FOMC statement released this afternoon, the Fed stressed that it is flexible and willing to reduce or increase the pace of asset purchases as economic conditions warrant.

Meanwhile, the ADP Payroll report for April showed just 119,000 new private sector jobs for the month. Estimates were for about 155,000 new jobs. A separate report on growth in manufacturing from the Institute of Supply Management showed activity slowing in March and falling below estimates. A third report from the Commerce Department showed construction spending down 1.7% in March, when predictions were for a gain of 0.7%.

Merck (MRK) shares fell nearly 3% following what appears to be the pattern for the quarter with its earnings report. The pharmaceutical giant beat on earnings though

The ADP Payroll report for April has come in under consensus. The report indicates just 119,000 new private sector jobs for the month. Estimates were for 150,000 to 155,000 new jobs. That could move markets lower after yesterday's record-high close. The S&P ended the regular session at 1.597. Major indexes have now logged six consecutive months of gains.

We've got another hailstorm of reports today as part of earnings season. Among the companies that have already reported this morning: Merck. The company managed to beat on the bottom line posting 85-cents a share, though revenues came in almost $1/2-billion dollars short. Also out with earnings this morning: three media companies with one common theme: a beat on earnings by a penny, but a miss on revenue. First is Comcast, which logged 51-cents a share. Next is Time Warner, which made 75-cents a share though revenue was almost$200-million short. And finally is Viacom which came in at 96-cents a share.

Apple's (AAPL) bond sale is

Facebook (FB) will be reporting earnings after the closing bell. Consensus is for the social network to report 13-cents a share. There's no year-to-year comparison since the company went public last May but revenue's expected to rise about 35% rise to $1.4 billion. Facebook's main challenge remains monetizing its billion-plus users, particularly with the massive shift to mobile. According to one calculation the company has recently shed millions of users, but that's being disputed. Right now Facebook shares are about 27% below their IPO price. They're sitting at almost the same place where they were when we rang in 2013.

Next up is BMC Software (BMC). Reuters is reporting that a private equity alliance comprised of Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital is offering more than $6.5 billion dollars for BMC. That would put them ahead of a rival consortium including KKR which made a takeover bid last week. According to the report, BMC is allowing that first group to sweeten its offer, so we

ADP or the Labor Department: which employment number is more trustworthy? Vote below in our poll. But first listen to Yahoo! Finance's Matt Nesto and Mike Santoli discuss the numbers and what goes into them. The pair also looks at decisions from the Federal Reserve Bank and the European Central Bank.

It was a day of relative calm on Wall Street as the major indexes closed out April with roughly 2% gains. The S&P 500 set a new intraday high today and rose 0.28% to close at another record high 1,598. The Nasdaq continued to lead the market, rising 0.66% to 3,329.

The economic news of the day was mixed. Chicago PMI came in weaker-than-expected at 49, showing a contraction in Midwest manufacturing activity in April. The S&P/Case Shiller Housing Index for 20 cities found that during February prices for single-family homes posted their biggest annual gain in seven years. Meanwhile, the Conference Board says consumer confidence jumped to 68.1 in April, lifted by a better outlook for the job market. Analysts were expecting a reading closer to 61.

Shares of Best Buy (BBY) soared over 7% on news the company is ending its business in Europe. The big box retailer is selling back its 50% stake in British cell phone company Carphone Warehouse. Best Buy bought half of Carphone Warehouse 5 years ago

Stocks are poised to open lower after ending yesterday's session with new records. The S&P closed at 1,593.61 which was an all-time high. The NASDAQ composite also notched a 12-year high closing at 3,307.02. Energy and tech stocks led the broader markets higher.

There's more jockeying this morning in the horse race for Sprint (S). Japan's Softbank says it won't be sweetening its offer for the cell company, because it's already better than the counter-offer from Dish Network (DISH). Softbank first laid out its proposal last October in an effort to expand globally. Dish submitted its offer this month. hares popped at time, contributing to a 23% climb in the stock's price this year.

Best Buy (BBY) is bailing on Europe. The big box retailer is selling back its 50-percent stake in British cell phone company "Carphone Warehouse." Best Buy bought in to Carphone Warehouse 5-years ago as a way to get its feet wet overseas. The two companies also coordinated on Best Buy cell-phone stores here