Why the Dow Soared Today

Well it�s about time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI  ) , finally shook off six days of losses to surge over 200 points on the day. Today's gain came despite disappointing consumer confidence data, and reports that showed China�s GDP grew at 7.6% last quarter, its sixth straight quarter of slowing growth.

Here�s how the three major U.S. indexes reacted to the news today.

Index	Change	Ending Value
Dow Jones Industrial Average	203.82 [1.62%]	12,777.09
Nasdaq	42.28 [1.48%]	2,908.47
S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC  )	22.02 [1.65%]	1,356.78

Why did markets shoot up despite two seemingly bearish economic reports? In a word: earnings. JPMorgan soared 6% on the day after reporting earnings that beat expectations. The so-called London whale�s losses were booked at $4.4 billion, and will likely get significantly worse before it�s all said and done. But JPMorgan made up for it with gains from selling securities, some accounting quirks, and reducing loan loss reserves to beat expectations. Fellow bank Wells Fargo continues to dominate the mortgage market, and also reported a solid quarter, with its stock jumping 3.2% on the day. The great day for these two banks helped Bank of America surge 4.6%, as well. Check out the video below for more on what drove the Dow, and what to watch for from next week�s earnings.

Despite today's good news, there's still a tremendous amount of uncertainty surrounding the market. That may tempt many investors to take their money and run far from stocks. But that can be one of the biggest mistakes investors can make. Some of the most successful stock picks are great dividend stocks�purchased at attractive valuations on dips in the market. With that in mind, we've taken an in-depth look at all 30 Dow components, and picked out our three favorite Dow dividend�stocks that investors can buy right now. You can find the names and analysis of these companies in our brand-new free report, "The 3 Dow Stocks Dividend Investors Need." Read the report now -- it's�absolutely free.

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