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CNBC ON DIGG

Stocks Extend Winning Streak; Banks Lead

Published: Monday, 24 Aug 2009 | 11:10 AM ET

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By: CNBC.com

Stocks opened higher Monday, extending their recent winning streak, with world shares hitting 10-month highs on hopes that the global economic recovery is picking up steam.

Major U.S. Indexes

.DJIA

.NCOMP

.SPX

By now, it's abundantly clear that the old Wall Street cliché "sell in May and go away" did not apply this year. After finishing Friday at their highest levels since last October, all three major indexes are on course for another monthly gain. For the Dow, it would be its fifth month of gains in the past six, and for the S&P and Nasdaq, their sixth.

But let the trader beware: There isn't much in the way of economic, earnings or other news on the calendar for today, and end-of-August volume tends to be light, which means trading could be volatile.

FOR INVESTORS

Financial stocks were among the day's biggest gainers, with Bank of America [BAC Loading... () ] and Citigroup [C Loading... () ] up more than 3 percent.

Credit-card companies advanced, including American Express [AXP Loading... () ], Capital One [COF Loading... () ] and Discovery Financial [DFS Loading... () ], after Barclays upgraded the sector to "overweight."

There could be a multibillion dollar deal in the works this morning involving Dow component Procter & Gamble [PG Loading... () ]. The consumer-products giant is expected to announce a deal to sell its prescription drug business to Warner Chilcot [WCRX Loading... () ] for about $3 billion.

And the Ricketts family has finalized a deal to buy the Chicago Cubs from Tribune for $845 million. That transaction still needs the approval of major league baseball owners, and the court that's overseeing Tribune's bankruptcy case.

Fannie Mae [FNM Loading... () ] shares shot up more than 30 percent, while Freddie Mac [FRE Loading... () ] was up more than 10 percent as the government-sponsored enterprises benefited from the Federal Reserve's purchase Friday of $5.6 billion in housing debt. The Fed program is targeted at spurring borrowing by keeping interest rates down.