Is a Moderate Pullback on the Way?

It was a mixed day on the market, as the red-hot Nasdaq took a breather, while the rest of the market pushed forward. The earnings and economic data were generally solid today, while news out of Europe was generally subdued. While we wouldn't be surprised to see a moderate pullback given the market's big run over the last few months, the bulls remain clearly in control.

The Chinese Solar Stocks Index was the top performing tickerspy Index on the day, led by Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ - News) with a 17% gain. The Stem Cell Stocks Index was the day's worst performing tickerspy Index, with BioTime (AMEX: BTX - News) down -5%.

Stocks traded mixed on the day, as the Dow climbed 46 points to 12,950 and the S&P advanced 3 points to 1,361. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, fell -8 points to 2,952. Oil climbed 93 cents to $103.24 a barrel, while gold slipped -$2.50 to $1,725.90 an ounce.

In economic news, the Labor Department said consumer prices rose 0.2% in January following a flat reading in December. Excluding food and energy prices, core CPI also rose by 0.2%. Economists were looking for headline growth of 0.3% and core CPI growth of 0.1%. The Conference Board's gauge of leading economic indicators, meanwhile, climbed 0.4% in January following a 0.5% increase in December. Those are the strongest back-to-back gains in nearly a year.

In earnings news, Chinese Internet search giant Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU - News) posted a fourth-quarter profit of $326.3 million, or 95 cents per share, as revenue rose 83% to $710.9 million. Analysts were looking for EPS of 91 cents. The number of active online marketing customers rose 13% to 311,000, while revenue per customer rose 62%. Shares of Baidu fell -3.5%. Sixty-three pros held Baidu in their portfolios at the end of Q4 and nearly 2,700 tickerspy members own the stock in their portfolios.

Shares of H.J. Heinz (NYSE: HNZ - News) surged 4.6% after the company said its fiscal third-quarter profit rose to $284.7 million, or 88 cents per share, from $273.8 million, or 84 cents per share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, Heinz earned 95 cents a share. Revenue rose 7% to $2.92 billion. Analysts had expected EPS 85 cents on revenue of $2.89 billion. The company narrowed its 2012 EPS guidance to $3.27-$3.29 a share from $3.24-$3.32. Forty pros held Heinz in their portfolios at the end of Q4 and nearly 400 tickerspy members own the stock in their portfolios.

Shares of solar panel maker SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR - News) soared 8.7% after the company topped analyst EPS estimates. The company posted a fourth-quarter loss of -$83 million, or -84 cents per share, compared to net income of $152.3 million, or $1.44 per share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 16 cents a share, easily topping the 5 cents per share analysts expected.

The company forecast a 2012 loss of -5 to -20 cents a share on revenue of $2.6-$3.0 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue of $2.7 billion.

Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD - News) shares plunged -14.3% after the biotech company said some Hepatitis C patients relapsed after they stopped taking one of its experimental treatment for the disease that it obtained in its acquisition of Pharmasset. Last year, Gilead spent $11 billion on Pharmasset to bolster its presence in the highly lucrative Hepatitis C market.

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