Last April, oil was spewing into the gulf as fast as the stock of BP (BP) was falling to earth. From pre-spill highs over $60 last April 20th, BP fell to about $25 a share in just over two months. Then-BP CEO Tony Hayward was seemingly determined to maximize the damage to the company's reputation, complaining that he just wanted "his life back" before the well was even capped. Investors and -- just as important -- voters were appalled by the apparently cavalier attitude of the company toward the environment.

Fast forward to today, and both BP's stock and the company are much revived. While not near pre-spill highs, BP is sitting over $45 a share, and CEO Bob Dudley, who replaced Hayward last October, has seemingly arrested the PR liability facing the company. We asked Mark Gilman, an analyst with The Benchmark Company, if the changes that have taken place are going to lead to sustainable improvements.

"We're pretty comfortable that things [at BP] are going in the right direction" says

Earnings from big names in the technology sector were dominating the conversation on Wall Street Wednesday, a day after Intel (INTC), IBM (IBM) and our parent Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) got investors buzzing with their quarterly numbers.

Bloomberg said the results from IBM and Intel "reflected demand from companies eager to upgrade computer systems left fallow during the recession." Read more in Intel, IBM Results Show Return of Corporate Computing Demand. The Wall Street Journal also noted that the duo saw an increase in spending by business customers and indicated reason for optimism ahead. For details, see Dollars Flow Back Into Tech. However, a cautious view, at least on the world's biggest chipmaker, was also found in the WSJ's Heard on the Street. Why's that? Find out with A Premature Party for Intel. Today's another busy day for earnings, with a docket that includes AT&T (T), Wells Fargo (WFC) and later on, Apple (AAPL).

Outside of earnings, investors were also focusing again on commodities prices, with gold surpassing $1,500 an ounce, silver continuing its climb to multidecade highs and oil above $109 a barrel. Speaking of oil, it was one year ago today that the BP (BP) oil disaster began to unfold in the Gulf of Mexico when the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded, killing 11 people. The subsequent leak of crude sent millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf and was the story in the U.S. for months thereafter. Check on Yahoo! Finance today as we look back on the spill.

On the blogs:

*Thank God I'm a Trader, Not an Analyst! - Peter Brandt, via StockTwits

*Intel's Q1 Proves It Doesn't Need Mobile Chip Sales - Seeking Alpha

*Who Cares About the Fed? - Economix, The New York Times

*After the Gold Rush - Seabreeze Partners

*Is Gold Really an Inflation Hedge? - Pragmatic Capitalism