RIM Soars as Tech Stocks Rise Again

Shares of Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) posted a dizzying 20.8% gain Friday after the company handily beat Wall Street estimates.

The broader market also rose to cap the best four-week rally for the Dow and S&P since 1933.

RIM dazzled expectations with an 84% rise in quarterly sales amid one of the longest recessions of the post-World War II era, and the company’s outlook was also better than expected.

The news boosted shares of competitors Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Palm (NASDAQ: PALM).

But Micron (NYSE: MU) shares slumped 2.8% after the company reported a bigger than expected loss and sales decline in a tough memory pricing environment.

Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) edged higher on reports that a merger deal with IBM (NYSE: IBM) could be announced as soon as Monday at a price of around $9.50 a share.

Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) was a big winner, up 8.6%, and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) posted solid gains.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) jumped 8.5% on a chip industry report that some took as a sign of a bottom.

Hutchinson (NASDAQ: HTCH) plunged 39% on loss of business from Seagate (NASDAQ: STX).

The broader market rose despite another month of steep job losses, and the lowest average hourly workweek on record suggests more job losses to come.

The Nasdaq rose 19 to 1621, the S&P 500 climbed 8 to 842, and the Dow gained 39 to 8017. Volume declined to 6.8 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.15 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a 25-12 margin on the NYSE, and 16-10 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 79% on the NYSE, and 71% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 5-54 on the NYSE, and 11-23 on the Nasdaq.