IBM Ignites Tech Rally

Updated from 4:17 p.m. EST

Stocks rallied Monday as a strong upside preannouncement from IBM (IBM Quote - Cramer on IBM - Stock Picks) put investors in a buying mood at the start of a big earnings week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 171.85 points, or 1.36%, to 12,778.15, and the S&P 500 rose 15.23 points, or 1.09%, to 1416.25. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 38.36 points, or 1.57%, to 2478.30.

"This was a technical bounce with some good news behind it," said Edgar Peters, chief investment officer with Pan Agora. "The market has been down for so many days, it was bound to go higher. There are still problems with inflation and economic data to come but, for now, this means that the panic selling is over."

Volume and breadth were both strong to start the week. About 3.57 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, with advancers topping decliners by a 2-to-1 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 2.11 billion shares, as winners edged losers 3 to 2.

IBM jumped 5.4% to end the session at $102.93 after the company offered preliminary figures for the fourth quarter that were well above Wall Street's estimates. IBM is set to report its full results after Thursday's close.

In addition to IBM, shares of tech giants Hewlett-Packard (HPQ Quote - Cramer on HPQ - Stock Picks), Intel (INTC Quote - Cramer on INTC - Stock Picks) and Cisco (CSCO Quote - Cramer on CSCO - Stock Picks) each gained 2.5% or more.

"Things don't look as bleak as they have earlier this year," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment officer with Oaktree Asset Management. "IBM is helping to offset concerns over weak economic news. This gives some added stability to tech and those with exposure to overseas markets."

Elsewhere, Citigroup (C Quote - Cramer on C - Stock Picks) is expected to write off up to $24 billion related to subprime losses in its fourth-quarter report, according to CNBC. The firm may also be forced to cut 20,000 jobs and may slash its dividend.

Citigroup, which will post fourth-quarter results Tuesday, gained 50 cents, or 1.8%, to $29.06.

"The Citigroup news is positive in that it shows that financials are really trying to wash out these subprime issues," said Pavlik. "The more writedowns we take now, the better of we'll be later on. It'll be that much less exposure to have to continue to write off in future quarters."

Along with Citigroup, several financial names will be in focus this week amid a flurry of earnings reports. JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote - Cramer on JPM - Stock Picks), Wells Fargo (WFC Quote - Cramer on WFC - Stock Picks), Merrill Lynch (MER Quote - Cramer on MER - Stock Picks), Washington Mutual (WM Quote - Cramer on WM - Stock Picks) and several other banks and lenders will post results in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Sears Holdings (SHLD Quote - Cramer on SHLD - Stock Picks) was one of few laggards, falling 5% to $91.38 after the retailer said it expects fourth-quarter earnings to drop more than 50% from a year ago and come in below the consensus estimate.

The warning came after weak holiday same-store sales. Credit Suisse downgraded shares of Sears Holdings all the way to underperform from outperform on the news.

On the other hand, the firm upgraded several retailers. Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY Quote - Cramer on BBBY - Stock Picks), Home Depot (HD Quote - Cramer on HD - Stock Picks) and Lowe's (LOW Quote - Cramer on LOW - Stock Picks) were all raised to outperform from neutral. All three stocks ended higher by 2% or more.

In other corporate news, Apple (AAPL Quote - Cramer on AAPL - Stock Picks) was in focus ahead of the annual MacWorld conference, where the company typically unveils new products. Shares rose 3% to $177.86.

Away from equities, commodity futures were on the rise. Oil advanced $1.51 to $94.20 a barrel. Gold surged again to record levels, up $5.70 to close at $903.40 an ounce.

U.S. Treasury prices were slightly higher after a volatile session. The 10-year note was up 1/32 in price, yielding 3.78%. The 30-year bond tacked on 3/32 in price, yielding 4.37%. The dollar, meanwhile, was losing ground against the world's major currencies.

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