Stocks continued to inch toward all-time highs.
First the scoreboard:
Dow: 14,089, +35.7 pts, +0.2 percent
S&P 500: 1,518, +3.5 pts, +0.2 percent
NASDAQ: 3,169, +9.5 pts, +0.3 percent
And now the top stories:


  • Overnight, we got the February manufacturing PMI reports from the major economies around the world.  And the story is manufacturing continues to grow globally, but the pace of growth has decelerated.  China is slowing, but economists warn some of this is due to the impact of the Chinese New Year Holiday.  Most of Europe continues to contract.  However, Germany has managed to return to growth.

  • In the U.S., the manufacturing picture was a bit more mixed.  The manufacturing PMI unexpectedly fell to 54.3.  Meanwhile, the ISM manufacturing index unexpectedly jumped to 54.2.  Ultimately, both numbers were significantly above 50, which is the minimum number that signals growth.

  • The message from the consumer was surpsingly optimistic.  Personal income fell by 3.6 percent, which was much sharper than the 2.4 percent decline expected.  Yet, personally spending climbed by 0.2 percent, which was right in line with expectations.