Readers Speak: Obama Swings and Misses

President Obama s State of the Union address, corporate earnings reports and Apple s iPad made headlines this week, and SmartMoney.com readers weighed in on each in our daily polls. The upshot: You were lukewarm on the president s speech; you declare recent earnings reports are a wash; and you says it s too early to judge the iPad a success.

The polls were conducted over a busy week for headline watchers but a tepid five-day stretch for the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained fairly static, hovering at around 10,200. About an hour before Friday s close, the index stood at 10,102, about 6% below last week s peak close of 10,725 the highest close since October 2008.

The stock slump continued despite fairly positive economic data. On Friday, the Commerce Department said the gross domestic product jumped 5.7% during the fourth quarter the fastest pace in six years. But the housing market showed more signs of weakness. Meanwhile, earnings season revealed some upside surprises. Novartis, DuPont, Microsoft, Amazon.com and Wal-Mart released better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings reports.

In Washington, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it would leave interest rates unchanged and, for the first time since the downturn, declared the economy in recovery. Later that night, President Obama called for financial regulatory reform during his first State of the Union address, suggesting bank stocks could remain pressured until proposed reforms play out. On Thursday, the Senate confirmed Ben Bernanke to a second four-year term as Federal Reserve chairman.

Needless to say, it was a busy week. And readers were ready to weigh in.

Our audience offered a mixed review of the State of the Union address, which focused on job creation and the expansion of the green energy sector and warned banks of planned regulatory reform.

Readers were asked to provide a letter grade for the speech. Twenty-five percent of respondents gave it an F; 16% gave it an A; 15% scored it a D; 11% gave it a B; and another 11% gave it a C. Twenty-one percent said they didn t watch it.

Readers also shared their take on the latest flurry of earnings reports many of which were better than analysts had forecast. This week Ford (F) announced it had a particularly good year, posting a $2.7 billion profit for 2009, the first profit in four years. Forty-one percent of our earnings poll respondents say that earnings have been a wash so far; 30% say they re encouraging; and 29% say they re discouraged.

SmartMoney readers also voiced their opinions about the iPad, Apple s new tablet computer, which includes some of the features and abilities of netbooks and Apple s iPhone. Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the device Wednesday and said the iPad will sell at a starting price of $499. About 44% of SmartMoney.com readers say it s too soon to pass judgment on the gadget; 35% say it s a winner; and 20% say it s a loser. Analysts say the iPad will dent sales of netbooks because of its competitive price.