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Stocks Manage Gains in Choppy Session - CNNMoney.com -- Stocks rose Thursday, led by technology shares, as investors looked past the day's ho-hum economic news and geared up for Intel's quarterly report, released shortly after the bell.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 30 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 index added 3 points, or 0.2%. Both closed at the highest point since Oct. 1, 2008. The Nasdaq composite rose 9 points, or 0.4%, ending at the highest point since Sept. 3, 2008.

You Can't File For Your $8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit - CNNMoney.com -- Did you purchase a home after Nov. 6? Don't expect your $8,000 homebuyer tax credit any time soon.

Since Congress passed the tax credit last February as part of the stimulus program, more than 1.4 million buyers have scrambled to take advantage of it, according to the IRS.
All they had to do was file an amendment to their 2008 tax returns (the ones they filed last spring) and claim the promised refund of 10% of the purchase price -- up to $8,000.
"I closed on a Friday and I filed an amendment to my taxes on Monday," said Valatisha Jacinto, who purchased her Waco, Texas, home last March.

But that all changed on Nov. 6. One CNNMoney.com reader wrote: "I bought a new home to get the $8,000 tax credit like many others. However the IRS has NOT ALLOWED ANYONE TO FILE since November 6th!! It has been over 2 MONTHS!!"

He's right. Nov. 6 marked the date that the rules changed because an extended -- and expanded -- version of the homebuyer tax credit went into effect. And that put filing for the credit on hold.