Stocks Advance Slightly After Obama Talk

(Updated with prices.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks advanced slightly Monday following President Obama's Wall Street address, as observers acknowledged the need for regulation but also that "we have to be careful what we wish for," as one put it.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 21.39 points, or 0.2%, at 9617, while the S&P 500 advanced 6.54 points, or 0.6%, to 1049.27. The Nasdaq Composite edged up 10.88 points, or 0.5%, to 2091.78.

Among the day's movers, Sprint(S) gained 10.9% amid speculation that Deutsche Telekom(DT) may bid for the company.

Also, E*Trade Financial(ETFC) shares gained 7.8% after an analyst upgraded the stocks and estimated it could be snapped up by a rival.

Overshadowing much of the corporate news, however, was that this week marks the one-year anniversary of the collapse of investment firm Lehman Brothers, which sent a shock wave through the financial world.

President Obama spoke at Federal Hall in New York, across the street from the New York Stock Exchange. The president discussed what he called "the most ambitious overhaul of the financial regulatory system since the great Depression."

The president said "we can be confident that the storms of the last two years are beginning to break." In fact, while there continues to be a need for government involvement to stabilize the financial system, that necessity is waning, Obama said.

Obama asked the financial industry to join him in a "constructive effort," cautioning that we will not go back to the days of "reckless behavior and unchecked excess where too many were motivated only by their appetite for quick kills and bloated bonuses.