Nike, on improved inventory picture, beats expectations, sets off Wall Street rally

Optimistic quarterly reports from two of Wall Street’s most important bellwethers, Nike and Fedex, sent the Dow up over 500 points yesterday. Nike indicated that the brand had made progress in moving out overabundant inventory and handily beat analysts’ forecasts with earnings of 85 cents per share (vs. 64 cents expected) and revenue of $13.32 billion (vs. $12.57 billion expected). Nike’s shared surged over 13 percent at points in trading on Wednesday.