• Biggest percentage gain since November 9, 2009.
• Today’s top contributors to the Dow’s movement and their point contribution: CAT (20.78), BA (13.98), KO (10.28), IBM (10.05), MMM (8.99).
• Today’s laggers and their point contribution: MRK (-0.91), BAC (-0.08), GE (0.00), PFE (0.30), AA (1.66).

Nasdaq Composite, up 24.82 points, or 1.17% to 2150.87.

S&P 500, up 13.78 points, or 1.30% to 1070.52.

Well, now the slablet is yesterday’s news.

Anticipation for Apple’s next big announcement is starting to simmer and this one may be more important to shareholders, Barclays Capital analyst Ben Reitzes said in a note Tuesday:

We look toward March/April as the timeframe when we should begin to hear of solid build information for the expected new iPhone launch this summer (expected around WWDC which is likely at the end of June 2010). We believe the new iPhone product cycle could be a major update that includes a new form factor. We believe key features for the new iPhone could include a thinner design with an updated camera and more multi-touch capabilities around the entire device (besides the screen) for ease of use. We are most excited about the iPhone upgrade cycle (even vs. iPad) in relation to its potential impact on Apple shares.

Really? Do we have to start this all over again?

It’s no surprise that analysts deem the world-beating Apple smart phone more important than an untested new device. The Journal’s Martin Peers recently dove into Apple’s recently restated historic earnings reports — tweaked for new accounting treatment of iPhones — and came to the conclusion that the iPhone is even more important to Apple sales than it previously appeared:

Under the old accounting rule, Apple had to defer much of the revenue and cost related to iPhone sales for two years. That masked the explosive impact of the device in its early years. Now Apple is recording virtually all of the revenue and costs as incurred.

In Apple’s fiscal 2010 first quarter, ended Dec. 26, iPhone and related product revenues were $5.578 billion, 36% of Apple’s total, compared with $4.45 billion for computers and $3.39 billion for iPods. The iPhone is largely responsible for doubling Apple’s sales over three years.

At the risk of inflaming the rage of the hordes of Apple devotees, I’ve heard that the camera on the Google Nexus One is better than the iPhone. It even has a flash.

Guess that makes two Flashes Apple doesn’t have! (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

Walt Disney Co.’s fiscal first-quarter profit was little changed despite bigger profits in the film studio and television operations as charges and gains skewed comparisons.

Shares rose 1.8% to $30.39 in after-hours trading as the media giant and theme-park operator’s results topped Wall Street’s expectations. The stock has nearly doubled from a seven-year low in March.

President and Chief Executive Robert Iger said he was pleased with the results and “excited about our creative pipeline,” including the upcoming movies “Alice in Wonderland” and “Toy Story 3″ and new attractions at its theme parks.

For the quarter ended Jan. 2, Disney reported a profit of $844 million, or 44 cents a share, down from $845 million, or 45 cents a share, a year earlier. The latest quarter had 3 cents in charges and the prior year had 4 cents in divestiture gains.

Revenue rose 1.5% to $9.74 billion. Analysts estimated earnings of 38 cents a share on revenue of $9.65 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

That said, there’s some interesting stuff among its big individual holdings. The company more than doubled its shares holdings in Chinese Internet portal Netease.com. It also added to its holdings of depositary shares of Taiwan Semiconductor, increasing its share count there by about 26%. On the minus side, it chopped down on its holdings of Mexican media conglomerate Grupo Televisa and Russian mobile systems operator Mobile TeleSystems. Lazard also boosted its shares in Comcast, which you might take as a vote of confidence in the cable company’s much ballyhooed puchase of NBC.

Associated Press

If you think things are bad in today’s economy, count your blessings that a key group of decisive leaders were at the reigns of power in late 2008 as the financial system spun out of control.

That, at least, was the message delivered today in Omaha, Neb., during a conversation between Warren Buffett and Henry Paulson. The talk, part of Mr. Paulson’s promotional tour for his new book “On the Brink,” was held during a meeting of the Greater Omaha Chamber.

Mr. Paulson, the former secretary of the Treasury Department, said in an interview televised by CNBC with the legendary investor that unemployment in the U.S. would have hit 25% without government intervention in the financial sector and the broader economy. If the government in September 2008, “businesses wouldn’t be able to fund themselves,” Paulson said.

At the beginning of the interview, Mr. Buffett said several key people, including Mr. Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner, the current Treasury Secretary who formerly served as president of the New York Fed, helped salvage the financial system by acting decisively.

Mr. Paulson also recounted a number of events from his book, published Feb. 1.

One truly scary scenario in 2008 involved Russian government officials approaching Chinese officials with a plan to sell the bonds of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two troubled mortgage lenders. Overseas investors, including governments, hold trillions in bonds issued by the lenders, both now wards of the state.

Mr. Paulson said the point of the move may have been “to test our resolve,” but the two countries - thankfully - never followed through.

Another worry Mr. Paulson had during the dark days of 2008 was “a sudden decline in the dollar.” He’s not as worried about that now, he said, although he wouldn’t respond directly to a question posed by Mr. Buffett about whether he thought dollar weakness could hurt fixed income assets.

• Up 3.60% over the two day period.
• Intraday, it traded as high as $74.15 and as low as $71.32.

Comex gold for February delivery gained $11.00 per troy ounce, or 1.03% to $1076.70.

Germany has made no decisions on potential emergency aid for Greece, a govt spokesman said Tue. Govt spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said he “rejected the accounts from coalition sources that a decision over aid for Greece has practically been made.”

The market seemed to pare back some of its recent surge on those comments. But not much, indicating that the investors are pretty sure something is going to come through. Of course, if all this speculation is way off base, that’d make the thud back to earth that much more painful for markets if it were to occur.

Euro zone countries have decided in principle to help Greece, with aid most likely to come in the form of “bilateral help,” an unidentified senior person in Germany’s ruling coalition said Tuesday, Reuters reports.

No decision has been made, the source said. “The decision on help for Greece has been taken in principle within the euro zone,” the official was quoted as saying.

FT Deutschland, citing sources in the coalition government, adds that the German government is putting together a rescue package for Greece. Possible solutions include both bilateral support as well as internationally-coordinated assistance at  the EU level. German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble will inform CDU party leaders Wednesday over details.

The headlines started crossing at about 11:30 a.m. setting off a sprint higher in U.S. stocks, and a quicker pace in selling of U.S. Treasurys. The dollar made a sharp move lower and commodities surged higher. In short, the traders worldwide are once again enjoying the benefits of their goldfish-like attention span and all appears right with the world.

We would no doubt be accused of party pooping to note that the solution to Greece doesn’t seem to do much for other struggling sovereigns, such as Portugal and Spain. Nor is it fun to suggest that a Hellenic bailout, or indeed an eventual Iberian one!, would merely shift the debt burden onto the sturdier shoulders of countries such as France and Germany. To wit, we noticed this headline that seemed to get buried in the current confetti of market optimism: “S&P: More Euro-Zone Sovereign Downgrades Possible In 2010.”