STOCKS CLIMB, MICROSOFT AND AMAZON GO NUTS: Here's What You Need To Know

First, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 15,554.0, +34.8, +0.2%
• S&P 500: 1,756.6, +4.6 +0.2%
• NASDAQ: 3,936.2, +7.3, +0.1%

And now the top stories:

• Today's market action was really driven by Microsoft and Amazon. Both companies announced Q3 financial results Thursday afternoon that pleased investors.
• Microsoft reported quarterly revenue and earnings that topped expectations.
• Amazon reported that its Q3 revenue climbed 24% year-over-year to $17.1 billion, beating analysts expectations. The company actually booked a net loss of $0.09 per share. But that had little negative effect. In fact, the stock price surged 9%. Stifel analyst Jordan Rohan raised his price target on the stock to $400 per share, a level we haven't heard of since the dotcom bubble.
• U.S. durable goods orders climbed 3.7% in September, beating economists expectation for a 2.3% gain. But this was largely driven by aircraft orders. Orders of nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft (a.k.a. "core capex") unexpectedly fell 1.1%; economists were looking for a 1.0% gain.
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