US stocks rebounded Monday following Ford posted its first quarterly profit in more than a year.
The Ford Motor Company posted a surprise third-quarter profit of $997 million and said it had its first profitable quarter in North America in more than four years, the New York Times reported. The carmaker also said it increased its cash reserves by $2.8 billion during the quarter, ending September with $23.8 billion.
“Our third quarter results clearly show that Ford is making tremendous progress despite the prolonged slump in the global economy,” Ford’s chief executive, Alan R. Mulally, said in the statement. “Our solid product lineup is leading the way in all markets. While we still face a challenging road ahead, our One Ford transformation plan is working and our underlying business continues to grow stronger.”
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 140 points, the S&P 500 jumped 15 points and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) rose points 23 points, CNN reported.
Stocks tumbled Friday on worries that the market was due for a correction, bringing Wall Street's seven-month winning streak to a halt in October, CNN reported. The Dow lost nearly 250 points, the biggest one-day selloff on a point basis since April 20.
Many investors are looking for buying opportunities, Dave Lutz, managing director equity trading for Stifel Nicolaus, told CNN. "I think that has led to some level of optimism."
This comes as no surprise to me. I've been reading that Ford is trying to improve many internal functions to increase customer satisfaction and quality.
