S&P 500 CLOSES ABOVE 2,000 FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER: Here’s What You Need To Know

SAM Ro

AUG. 27, 2014

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

A screen displays the S&P 500 after passing the 2000 mark just after the opening bell over the floor of the New York Stock Exchange August 26, 2014.

We’re still hitting new records in the stock market.

First, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 17,115.6, +38.7, (+0.2%)
• S&P 500:2,000.7, +2.8, (+0.1%)
• Nasdaq: 4,571.8, +14.4, (+0.3%)

And now, the top stories on Monday:

1. Durable goods orders surged 22.6% in July due to an expected spike in aircraft orders. In July, Boeing reported orders for 324 planes, up from 109 in June. Nondefense capital goods order excluding aircraft — a proxy for business spending — fell by 0.5% in July; However, growth in that same measure for June was revised up to 5.4% from an earlier estimate for 1.4%. “On balance, the momentum in core orders in the second quarter bodes well for equipment and software spending in the second half of the year and core shipments remain in line with our outlook for modest rates of business investment,” said Barclays’ Michael Gapen.

2. The S&P Case-Shiller home price index fell 0.2% month-over-month in June, which was worse than the 0.0% decline expected by economists. ““For the first time since February 2008, all cities showed lower annual rates than the previous month,” noted S&P’s David Blitzer. “Other housing indicators — starts, existing home sales, and builders’ sentiment — are positive. Taken together, these point to a more normal housing sector.“

3. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index unexpectedly jumped to 92.4 in August, the highest level since October 2007. “Consumer confidence increased for the fourth consecutive month as improving business conditions and robust job growth helped boost consumers’ spirits,” said the Conference Board’s Lynn Franco. “Looking ahead, consumers were marginally less optimistic about the short-term outlook compared to July, primarily due to concerns about their earnings. Overall, however, they remain quite positive about the short-term outlooks for the economy and labor market.”

4. Burger King and Tim Hortons officially announced their plan to merge, sending the U.S. burger chain’s tax domicile to Canada via a tax inversion. Tim Hortons shareholders will receive $65.50 in cash per share and 0.8025 of a share in the new parent company. All in, this makes each share of Tim Hortons worth about $89.32. Each share of Burger King will be converted into 0.99 of a share of the new company.

5. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway will be providing $3 billion in preferred equity financing. He’ll be getting a 9% dividend on those securities.