
Stocks jumped out of the gate Friday and never looked back. Sentiment got a major lift thanks to a positive reaction to Apple's (AAPL) quarterly earnings report and a bad-news-is-good-news jobs report.
The excitement got started late Thursday when Apple reported higher-than-expected earnings and revenue for its fiscal second quarter. The iPhone maker also unveiled a record $110 billion stock buyback program and its 12th straight annual dividend hike.