reported its best first quarter since 1998. 3m posted a healthy jump in profits. u.p.s. beat the steet and raised its yearly estimate. and consumer confidence rose in april with unemployment and price worries easing. even losers were winners, battle-weary delta jumped 11% after reporting a much smaller loss than expected. and after the bell, amazon slipped, reporting new investments had eaten into earnings. sony now says the credit card data of 77 million playstation account holders may have been stolen in that hacking incident that forced it to shut down its playstation network last week. johnson & johnson is buying swiss medical device maker synthesis, in a major deal worth more than $21 billion. giving j & j the lead in equipment it treat trauma. and today moving toward