7 Stocks you need to know for Wednesday

The Dow gained 178.73. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day up 58.09. And the S&P 500 closed higher by 24.23.

Here are 7 Stocks You Need to Know for Wednesday.

Political pressure continues to mount against American International Group (AIG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and its payment of millions of dollars in bonuses after receiving massive public assistance. Senators in Congress are looking into an excise tax to recoup bonus money already paid out to AIG derivatives traders and others in the company's financial products division.

Surprisingly strong home building statistics - specifically with regard to better than expected housing starts - led to a rally in home builder stocks like Centex (CTX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and in home improvement retailers like Home Depot (HD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating).

Alcoa (AA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) announced after the markets closed on Monday that it was slashing its dividend from 17 cents per share to 3 cents per share, a cut of more than 82%.

Reporting quarterly earnings Wednesday before the market opens, General Mills (GIS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) is expected to announce EPS of 88 cents.

Both Nike (NKE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and Oracle (ORCL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) are scheduled to announce earnings Wednesday after the bell. Analysts are expecting EPS of 79 cents from Nike, and earnings per share of 0.32 from Oracle.