Here are a couple of the stocks that traded up to new highs today:

• Motorola (MOT) currently up 1.4% and hit new 52 week high of $9.05, currently trading at $9.01.
• Qualcomm (QCOM) currently up 1.0% to $49.94 and hit 52 week high of $49.98.
• Procter & Gamble (PG) hit a new 52 week high of $65.38 and is currently trading down 0.4% to $64.70.

• Microsoft (MSFT) : Tech giant Microsoft set a new 52 week high today, trading up to $31.58 before closing the trading session down 1.4% on the day to $30.96, down $0.43. The company posted better than expected fiscal Q3 earnings last night following the market close.
• Apple Computer (AAPL) : Apple continues to trade strongly following better than expected earnings earlier this week. The stock hit a new all time high today of $272.18. The stock finished out the session up 1.6% to $270.83, up $4.36.
• Home Depot (HD) : Home improvement giant Home Depot set a new 52 week high today. The stock traded as high as $36.44 and closed the session just under its daily high at $36.39, up $0.67 or 1.9%. Home Depot will not be reporting its earnings until mid May.
• American Express (AXP) : Financial giant American Express set a new 52 week high today of $49.19. The stock closed the day up 2.7% at $48.05, up $1.28. The company posted better than expected earnings Thursday night, reporting $0.73 per share, verses analyst estimates for $0.63.

Ford Motor (NYSE: F) hit a new 52 week high today of 9.14 before afternoon profit taking came in and pushed shares lower. The stock has been very strong lately, and recently was considered to be the stock of the year from the writers of CrossingWallStreet. Shares finished the day down slightly at $8.94, down 0.45%.

Technology giant Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) also rose to a new 52 week high today. Shares of the company hit a day today of $30.14. Shares of MSFT finished today trading session up 0.4% to $30.11, just three pennies off its new 52 week high.

Gold prices continue to rise, and Yamaha Gold (NYSE: AUY) has been benefiting from the recent gold rush, setting a new 52 week high earlier in the session at 13.49. After hitting another new high today, the profit takers came in and sold the stock off a bit, which ended the day slightly lower at $13.15, down 0.23%. Gold prices rose as high as 1146.5 but closed down 70 cents to 1,140.5.

What are your favorite stocks right now? Which stocks do you see rising to new highs in the near future?

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) rose to a new 52 week high today of $125.68 and ended the session up 5.2% to 124.6399. The company is still riding high on last week’s solid earnings report. The company was expected to show earnings of 33 cents per share, but came in with a reported 45 cents.

RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) soared after posting strong third quarter earnings this morning. The stock finished the day up 15.9% on solid third quarter earnings, during which it earned 30 cents per share.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) ended the day in the red, but traded up to a new 52 week high earlier in the session of $35.78. The stock closed the day down 0.5% at $34.80.

TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) started the week off strong, rising to a new 52 week high today of $40.64. The stock is moving higher following a report from Barron’s last week which estimated the stock could easily see another 15% price jump.

The first time that the DOW rose above the 10,000 mark was all the way back in 1999, and at that time investors celebrated, and drank champagne, but this time it was not so much a reason to celebrate as a reason to relax a bit, as Wall Street continues to claw its way back from the lows set in March of this year.

It has been an impressive run for the DOW, which is now up 53% from the lows it set earlier this year. The market had a good day on the back of strong earnings from Intel Corp. (NYSE: INTC) and JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM).

A few stocks that hit new 52 week highs today include:

• Intel Corp (NYSE: INTC): The company hit a high of $21.27 and closed the day up 1.6% at $20.83. The company reported 33 cents per share, which was higher than the 28 cents that analysts had been expecting to see.
• JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM): JP Morgan hit a high of $47.47 on the day, and closed the session up 3.3% to $47.16, up $1.50. The company reported earnings of 82 cents per share for its third quarter, above analyst estimates for 52 cents a share.
• EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC): EMC set a new 52 week high today after the stock was upgraded this morning by Thomas Weisel to Overweight from Market Weight, and the broker raised its price target on the stock to $24 from $15. The stock hit a new high of $18.33 and closed today’s trading up 1.3% to $18.16, up $0.24.

Other big names hitting new highs today were Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), Merck (NYSE: MRK), and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS).

Today’s report shows that retailers saw an increase of 0.6% in sales for the month of September, which has led several retailers to trade up to new 52 week highs today. Granted, the monthly numbers are in comparison to last September when retailers really struggled, but still good news as we head into the holiday shopping season.

Aeropostale (ARO) saw a 19% jump from last year, Ross Stores (ROST) posted and 8% jump which pushed the stock to a new 52 week high today of $50.50,and TJ Maxx (TJX) hit a new 52 week high today as well, trading up to $38.84 following its September sales increase of 7%.

Other retailers that set new 52 week highs today were Macy’s (M) and Target (TGT).