Dividend.com: Midday Update

The markets are continuing to enjoy a great first half of action today. Let's take a look at what is working well and the few plays that aren't, as we get set for the Federal Reserve rate announcement at 2:15 p.m. EDT today.

Bullish

Earnings winners: Oracle(ORCL), HB Fuller(FUL), AeroVironment(AVAV) and Sonic Corporation(SONC) are all holding on to this morning's gains.

China plays: Baidu(BIDU), Shanda Interactive(SNDA) and Netease.com(NTES) are all spiking up.

Tech/Internet: Apple(AAPL), Google(GOOG), Amazon(AMZN) and Priceline(PCLN) are all up nicely.

Transports: Winners include FedEx(FDX) and Union Pacific(UNP)

Commodity plays: Freeport McMoRan(FCX), U.S. Steel(X), Rio Tinto(RTP) and Joy Global(JOYG).

Bearish

Supermarket plays: Sector is weak following warning from SuperValu(SVU).

Refiners: Sector downgrade from Wall Street analyst is hurting shares of Tesoro(TSO) and Valero Energy(VLO).

Boeing(BA): Continues to act poorly following yesterday's announcement the company would be delaying its 787 test flight.

Summary

Oil (USO) is trading higher so far today, following data that revealed a drop in crude oil inventory. Gold (GLD) is higher as well, with strong durable goods data propping up some inflation concerns. Treasuries(TLT) are down so far, but with the Federal Reserve announcement out this afternoon, I would not be in the position. The Fed's verbiage may tends to make bonds trade quite erratically.

I hope readers were able to take advantage of the Shanda Interactive(SNDA) call I made yesterday. If you do not want to take profit (shares are up nearly $5 from the call), please put in a trailing stop in the event the market reverses.

Our two "aggressive dividend" plays are doing very well also: Rio Tinto(RTP) and Joy Global(JOYG). Be sure to adjust your stops if you have been riding those two names higher as well.

I hope to share more of those risk/reward opportunities with everyone when they appear. To be sure not to miss out on more calls like this, be sure to sign up for Dividend.com Premium, and for our new WhatstheTrade.com service, which will be debuting in another week or so.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system.