McDonald's & Coca-Cola Cut Jobs; Dow Gains More Than 300 Points

A big day on Wall Street had the Dow up more than 300 points. U.S. stocks skyrocketed for a second day. All the benchmarks are now higher for the year. Crude oil managed to close up $0.14 at $46.83 after wavering in the session. Shares of Yahoo (YHOO) and AOL (AOL) soared after hedge fund Starboard Value put more pressure on Yahoo to buy AOL. Shares of AOL spiked nearly 8%. J.C. Penney (JCP) didn't gain as much as most retailers did after reporting December sales. J.C. Penney did close off its lows after dropping on plans to shut 40 of its stores, eliminating more than 2,225 jobs. More layoffs were announced. This time from a couple of America's most iconic brands. Coca-Cola (KO) said it will cut 1,600 to 1,800 workers. McDonald's (MCD) is laying off 63 corporate employees. Both blue chips closed in the green.