Strong Third-Quarter Earnings Boost Investor Confidence

Claman on Call: FBN’s Liz Claman with an after-hours web exclusive on the markets, the potential case of Ebola in NYC, Microsoft and Amazon’s earnings.

There was breaking news that developed during the last hour of trade Thursday: Ebola fears have made their way to New York’s Manhattan.

A 33-year old doctor who recently returned to New York from treating Ebola patients in West Africa was taken to Bellevue Hospital in New York City after reporting a fever. The man’s apartment on West 147th Street has been sealed off pending official diagnosis, which usually takes about 12 hours to come back with results.

We were joined by Lenox Hill Hospital Chairman of Urology, Doctor David Samadi, who told me Bellevue is the most equipped to handle Ebola cases.

Amid the breaking health news, we had two big tech quarterly results after the bell. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) rallying in extended trade after beating analyst expectations for both revenue and earnings. Significant restructuring costs weighed on the September quarter earnings - but CME trader Dan Stecich tells us, going forward, the cost reduction plans will be beneficial for the company.

A positive quarter for Microsoft, but a much different picture for Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN): The e-commerce giant reported a third-quarter loss, and revenue that missed analysts' expectations. The results sent the stock tumbling more than 10% after hours. This was Amazon's seventh miss in nine quarters.

Shifting our focus to the markets: It was a day for the bulls on Wall Street with the Dow rallying more than 200 points, boosted by strong earnings out earlier in the day from Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), and 3M (NYSE:MMM).

Looking ahead to tomorrow : Investors will get new home sales for the month of September - and of course we'll continue watching latest developments with Ebola.