"If the economy is as strong as the Fed is worried about, that's going to mean better corporate earnings," ..........

"Techs lead Nasdaq to 5-year high

Mar 29, 2006 — By Jennifer Coogan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rallied on Wednesday, led by sharp gains in the Nasdaq Composite to its highest since February 2001, after positive comments by a brokerage about wireless technology makers, including Qualcomm Inc. <QCOM.O>

The blue-chip Dow industrials got a lift from Boeing Co. <BA.N>, which received a $2 billion jet order, and from a brokerage upgrade of manufacturer 3M Co. <MMM.N>.

Stocks fell on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve lifted the benchmark fed funds rate and hinted that more rate increases may be needed to stem inflation.

"If the economy is as strong as the Fed is worried about, that's going to mean better corporate earnings," said John Augustine, chief investment strategist at Fifth Third Asset Management. "The driver is rotating from front-end consumer to back-end business spending. And business spending is being driven by the need to continually improve productivity, which brings in tech spending."  .............

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