7 Stocks You Need to Know for Friday

Strong same store sales were the case for two of America's most popular retailers in Wal-Mart (WMT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and Costco (COST | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) where consumers took advantage of affordable pricing for fuel, food and pharmaceuticals.

Confirmation that Verizon (VZ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) would indeed buy Alltel for $28.1 billion drew investors and traders to the stock, bidding it higher by more than 5% going into the close on Thursday.

UBS (UBS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) bounded higher by more than 6% on news that the company was getting out of the municipal bond business. The bank's inability to find a buyer means that 280 workers will also be let go.

Rising sales on declining profits were not the combination investors and traders of Smithfield Foods (SFD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) were hoping for. The disappointment led to a 6% correction in the stock in Thursday's trading.

Strong profits in the fourth quarter and for the year did little to mend investor disappointment over Del Monte's (DLM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) warning of a less profitable 2009. The stock plunged more than 11% on Del Monte's news.

Overseas demand for steel encouraged Nucor (NUE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) to raise its profit target for the current quarter. Shares of the steelmaker were higher by more than 8% on Thursday.