donkey on cyprus road
Wikimedia Commons
Donkey walking on road in Cyprus
Markets made a modest move today as headlines crossed out of Cyprus.
First the scoreboard:
Dow: 14,455, +3.7 pts, +0.0 percent

S&P 500: 1,548, -3.7 pts, -0.2 percent

NASDAQ: 3,229, -8.4 pts, -0.2 percent

And now the top stories:
  • Cyprus spent most of the day mulling over a controversial bank bailout deal, which included a tax on all of its bank depositors.  Eventually, Cypriot's leaders voted it down. In fact, the deal got zero votes in favor.  The euro got slammed in the process.

  • After we learned the deal was struck down, the European Central Bank (ECB) reiterated its position that it would provide liquidity to Cyprus within the existing rules governing the bank.  Markets rallied a bit on this reassurance.

  • In U.S. economic news, we learned that housing starts climbed 0.8 percent to an annualized rate of 917,000 in February.  This was higher than the 915,000 economists were looking for.  Furthermore, the January number was revised up to 910,000.  So, the U.S. housing recovery continues.

  • Shares of Lululemon tumbled today.  The yoga apparel maker warned there would be a shortage of its famous pants after management found some pants didn't meet company standards. Specifically, those pants were a bit too see-through.