Market Check

While maybe not the most eloquent of speakers, David Tepper of Appaloosa Management speaks one thing very fluently - markets. After solidified his name in Wall Street folk lore in September 2010 when he told the investing public on CNBC to "buy everything" ahead of more Federal Reserve easing, he did it again today in the same easy-going, straight-shooting style.

Today, also on CNBC, Mr. Tepper compared the market to the movie "My Cousin Vinny", noting that the evidence is overwhelmingly positive for stocks.

Here's how the exchange went:

(David Tepper to Joe Kernan) "Ever seen the move 'Cousin Vinny?'... There's this moment at the end of the movie, right, where he's making the case. And he's summing it up. And he sums it up with so many different things that the prosecution says "case dismissed" because the evidenced is so overwhelming. It's kind of getting like that right now. The evidence is so overwhelming. Economy is getting better, autos are better, housing better."

Mr. Tepper expects the Fed to taper off purchases, but said even this will be bullish.

"There better be a true [Fed] taper or else you might be back into the last half of 1999," Tepper said. "So like guys that are short, they better have a shovel to get themselves out of the grave."

He continued, "If the Fed doesn't taper back, we're going to get into this hyper-drive market. "It's a backwards argument. To keep the markets going up at a steady pace the Fed has to taper back."

At the noon hour, the Dow is up 83, the S&P 500 is up 14 and the Nasdaq is up 26.

'My Cousin Vinny clip

Continuing its torrent pace, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed above 15,000 for first time ever Friday, topping the April 11th all-time high 14,865 mark. The popular stock market gauge last traded at 15,002, up 170 points, or 1.15%. The Dow is up 14.5 percent since the start of the year.

Top performing Dow 30 stocks this year are: HP (NYSE: HPQ) (+46%), Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) (+29%), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) (+25%), Boeing (NYSE: BA) (+24%), American Express (NYSE: AXP) (+23%), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (+23%), Verizon (NYSE: VZ) (+22%), DuPont (NYSE: DD) (+21%), Citigroup (NYSE: C) (+20%), 3M (NYSE: MMM) (+17%).

Today's jump in stocks is related to a better than expected April jobs number and higher February and March job revisions. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 165,000 in the month, which was better than the 140,000 economists on average expected. Given the revisions, employment gains in February and March combined were 114,000 higher than previously reported.

The S&P 500 is at record levels again Monday. After closing at 1,593.37 on April 11th, the index is up about 14 points to over 1,596.14. The intraday high for the index today is 1,596.47.

Not that the other two major U.S. indices are having a rough ride. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up past its all-time high close of 14,865.14 on April 11th, while the Nasdaq is up past its April 11th closing high of 3,300.16, trading in the highest range its seen since 2000.

ETFs to track the indices include SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA), and PowerShares QQQ (Nasdaq: QQQ).

Miscellaneous items affecting markets today include strong pending home sales (up 1.5 percent, versus 0.1 percent consensus), personal spending topping views by 0.1 point, and Italy forming a government two-months following elections. Data also has about 69 percent of the S&P 500-listed companies topping Q1 consensus EPS expectations, with 43 percent also beating on the top line.

(Updated - April 23, 2013 1:29 PM EDT)

According to the AP, its Twitter account was hacked this afternoon. Some concern hit the market when the largely-followed news source posted the message: "Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average appeared to have dropped over 200 points on the headlines.

UPDATE - The AP Twitter account is said to be suspended following the post.

AP White House correspondent Julie Pace affirmed the hack during a piece this afternoon.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said, "The president is fine; i was just with him."

(Updated - April 23, 2013 1:29 PM EDT)

According to the AP, its Twitter account was hacked this afternoon. Some concern hit the market when the largely-followed news source posted the message: "Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average appeared to have dropped over 200 points on the headlines.

UPDATE - The AP Twitter account is said to be suspended following the post.

AP White House correspondent Julie Pace affirmed the hack during a piece this afternoon.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said, "The president is fine; i was just with him."