mitt romney
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Everyone's talking how Mitt Romney crushed Barack Obama during last night presidential debate.
First the scoreboard:
Dow: 13,575, +80.7, +0.6 percent

S&P 500: 1,461, +10.4, +0.7 percent

NASDAQ: 3,149, +14.2, +0.4 percent
And now the top stories:
  • Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney surprised many by destroying President Barack Obama in last night's debate, boosting his odds of winning the November election.  Wall Street strategists like Morgan Stanley's Adam Parker have long argued that a Romney win would be more bullish for stocks than an Obama reelection.

  • The biggest winners today were coal companies.  Last night, Romney gave high praise to coal and clean coal technology.  Shares of Alpha Natural Resources and Arch Coal soared today. 

  • Today's stock market rally was broad, but there were some losers.  Specifically, green car-maker Tesla, which Romney called out, got crushed.

  • Wall Streeters paid close attention to Romney's remarks slamming the Dodd-Frank bill.  "This is the biggest kiss that's been given to — to New York banks I've ever seen," said Romney. "This is an enormous boon for them."  However, he made very clear the value and importance of sound regulation.

  • Initial jobless claims climbed modestly to 367k.  This was well below the 370k expected by economists.  This is the final employment data point ahead of tomorrow's September BLS jobs report.  Economists estimate that the U.S. added 115k new payrolls, up from 96k last month.

  • It's worth noting that oil prices surged today.  Traders seem to be concerned that escalating tensions between Syria and Turkey will lead to oil supply disruptions.