October 10 Stock Plays: Financials Lead the Way

Today was extremely bullish across equity markets, with technology and financial sectors supporting positive sentiments for many traders. Various stocks made significant moves to the upside, and a few stocks are awaiting earnings calls, which are expected to be positive.In the financial sector, ING Groep (NYSE: ING) gained over 8.5% as it announced various acquisitions as well as increased employment benefits. Investors seem to be pleased with the strategic moves undertaken by ING, and further upside may occur if the greater financial sector continues to rally.In the energy sector, Complete Production Services (NYSE: CPX) gained over 37%. Although positive macroeconomic news helped push it higher, the company announced that it will be merging with Superior Energy Services (NYSE: SPN). The large pop up may indicate that investors expect the transaction to be accretive to Complete Production's earnings. It will also help market the company's products across the world, with Superior Energy Services' capabilities.Sprint (NYSE: S) was down over 8.5% for the day, despite anticipation for the iPhone 4S. It recently announced that it will discontinue selling phones and other mobile devices linked to Clearwire Corporation's (NASDAQ: CLWR) network by the end of 2011. Clearwire also dropped by nearly 9%. No further details regarding the motives behind the move were released.Alcoa (NYSE: AA) is scheduled to release earnings after the close tomorrow afternoon. Analysts expect an EPS of $0.22 on revenues of $6.24 billion for the quarter, along with an EPS of $1.04 on revenues of $24.68 billion for the year. Alcoa may have been able to profit from its operations despite volatile natural gas and crude oil prices.