STOCKS RALLY, EURO SURGES, YEN TANKS: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro

 Apr. 4, 2013

Flickr / Duncan

Currencies went wild.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,606, +55.7 pts, +0.3 percent

S&P 500: 1,559, +6.2 pts, +0.4 percent

NASDAQ: 3,224, +6.3 pts, +0.2 percent

And now the top stories:

• The action started over night during the Asian trading session.  The Bank of Japan held and concluded its first interest rate meeting with uber-dove Haruhiko Kuroda at the helm.  Expectations were high that Kuroda would be the man to unleash Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" — a plan to stimulate the economy through ultra aggressive monetary policy.  Kuroda didn't disappoint.  Japan's stock market surged and the yen tanked.

• Next up was the European Central Bank, which kept its monetary policy unchanged.  ECB president Mario Draghi reiterated his commitment to keep rates low, citing existing downside risks to the economy.  The euro initially fell on those words.  However, the euro quickly recovered those losses and ended the day way up.

• In the U.S., the initial weekly unemployment claims report spiked to 385k, which was much higher than the 353k expected by economist. 

• However, the report was rather noisy.  "The labor department noted that the Easter holiday and spring break added to claims volatility and that two states were estimated due to the Easter holiday," said TD Securities Gennadiy Goldberg. "It is worth noting that some schools lay off employees during the spring break holiday, helping to explain the spike in the series during this week."

• The March jobs report is coming out tomorrow at 8:30 AM ET. Economists estimate that U.S. companies added 190k jobs durin the month.

STOCKS FALL, OIL AND GOLD TANK, BITCOIN GOES CRAZY: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro
 Apr. 3, 2013

MovieClips via YouTube

Two disappointing economic reports seemed to rattle markets. Meanwhile, tensions are rising in North Korea.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,550, -111.6 pts, -0.7 percent

S&P 500: 1,553, -16.5 pts, -1.0 percent

NASDAQ: 3,218, -36.2 pts, -1.1 percent

And now the top stories:

• North Korea, the isolated rogue nation, continues to threaten South Korea and the U.S.  "North Korea rhetoric presents real, clear danger, threat to US, allies," said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel earlier today.  The Pentagon said that it would be deploying anti-missile systems to Guam in response to the threats.

• In today's sell-off, defense contractors managed to rally.  The rationale for the sector's outperformance is pretty intuitive.  Stocks like Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman all surged today.

• However, Stifel Nicolaus' Dave Lutz pointed out an interesting discrepancy.  The South Korea ETF (EWY) and the country's credit-default swaps didn't break down today.  Lutz argued that this means the sell-off was about more than North Korea.

• Perhaps the sell-off was due to the disappointing ADP jobs report, which showed U.S. companies only created 158k jobs instead of the 200k expected.  Or perhaps it was the disappointing ISM services report.  After all, the U.S. is a services-based economy.

• Gold prices fell for no obvious reason. In his commentary today, Lutz pointed to the massive outflows from gold ETFs.  This was a point that the analysts at Societe Generale made when they declared "The End Of The Gold Era."

• Oil prices also tumbled.  According to a new supply report from the Department of Energy, inventories jumped by 2.7 million barrels, which was way above analysts' estimates.

• Meanwhile, the price of controversial digital currency Bitcoin ripped higher.  And then it plunged.

STOCKS RALLY, GOLD TUMBLES, BITCOIN GOES BONKERS: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro

 Apr. 2, 2013

Flickr / dekstop

Stock market sell-offs continue to be short-lived.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,662, +89.1 pts, +0.6 percent

S&P 500: 1,570, +8.0 pts, +0.5 percent

NASDAQ: 3,254, +15.6 pts, +0.4 percent

And now the top stories:

• U.S. factory orders rose by 3.0 percent in February, which was a tad higher than the 2.9 percent gain expected by economists.  Nevertheless, the report reinforced the idea that the U.S. economy is in better shape then most think.

• U.S. auto sales data continues to roll out.  Ford, GM, and Chrysler all reported mid-single digit growth in their March sales.  Economist expect that the final tally will show that automakers sold 15.4 million vehicles on a seasonally-adjusted annual rate.

• Otherwise, it was a quiet day for U.S. economic data.  The stock market recovered most of yesterday's losses, which shows that this bull market still seems to have legs.

• Gold, on the other hand, took a nasty tumble falling over 1.5 percent.  In a new note to clients, the analysts at Societe Generale declared "The End Of The Gold Era."  From the note: "Professional sentiment, as evidenced by heavy redemptions in ETFs and the increasing willingness of managed money investors to trade from the short side, confirms our view that gold may have had its “last hurrah”."

Sam Ro

 Apr. 1, 2013

Flickr / Aaron Dieppa

Stocks kicked off the second quarter with a modest sell-off.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,572, -5.6 pts, -0.0 percent

S&P 500: 1,562, -7.0 pts, -0.4 percent

NASDAQ: 3,239, -28.3 pts, -0.8 percent

And now the top stories:

• All things considered, the market sell-off could've been much worse.  There was quite a bit of March economic data released today, and much of it was disappointing.

• Two major U.S. manufacturing indices miss expectations.  The U.S. PMI unexpectedly fell to 54.6 from 54.9 in February. The ISM manufacturing index fell to 51.3 from 54.2 last month.  Any reading above 50 implies growth.

• "Since the ISM is effectively an early month survey, the figures could have been adversely affected by the recent discretionary spending cuts," explained Deutsche Bank's Joe LaVorgna. "In fact, the ISM folks essentially admitted as much in their post-release press conference. We saw the same development in the March University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey."

• The major Asian economies also published their March manufacturing PMI reports.  China, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Indonesia all delivered numbers that suggested manufacturing activity was accelerating.

• However, the improving Asian PMI reports were offset by concerns raised by disappointing Japanese manufacturers' sentiment and weak South Korean exports.

• Shares of Apple tumbled by almost 3 percent today.  Money management behemoth Fidelity reportedly slashed its stake in the iPhone maker.

• Corn prices plummeted, falling by over 7 percent today.  Last week, a crop report revealed that corn supplies were actually much higher than everyone expected.

FINALLY, S&P 500 CLOSES AT NEW ALL-TIME HIGH: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro

 Mar. 28, 2013

Flickr / Tambako the Jaguar

Stocks ended the first quarter at an all-time high.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,574, +48.6 pts, +0.3 percent

S&P 500: 1,568, +6.0 pts, +0.3 percent

NASDAQ: 3,267, +11.0 pts, +0.3 percent

And now the top stories:

• Today's stock market rally came in the face of four pieces of disappointing economic data.

• The final reading of Q4 GDP growth came in at +0.4 percent, which was below expectations for +0.5 percent.

• Initial jobless claims jumped to 357k, which was higher than the 340k economists were expecting.

• The Chicago PMI fell to 52.4 from 56.8 a month ago.  Economists were looking for a reading of 56.5.

• Rounding out the economic reports was the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing index, which improved to just -5 from last month's reading of -10. Economists were looking for -3.

STOCKS MAKE BIG COMEBACK: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro

 Mar. 27, 2013

Flickr / whl.travel

Salamis, North Cyprus

Markets opened deep in the red with the Dow down by as much as 120 points.  But stocks slowly ground higher.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,526, -33.5 pts, -0.2 percent

S&P 500: 1,562, -0.9 pts, -0.0 percent

NASDAQ: 3,256, +4.0 pts, +0.1 percent

And now the top stories:

• In case you haven't been following, the S&P 500 is just a handful of points away from its all-time high of 1,565.

• The U.S. markets actually began the day deep in the red.  Much of the bad news was coming out of Europe where Italy is in disarray and Cyprus makes plans to reopen its banks tomorrow.

• For the next seven days, Cypriot bank account holders will not be able to cash any checks, however they will be welcome to make deposits. Also, all card transactions will be capped at 5,000 euros.  These capital controls are intended to prevent a run on the banks, which would be devastating for the very financial system that Europe is trying to preserve.

• "The Troika have managed to exponentially increase concerns on how safe retail deposits are in the eurozone," wrote Societe Generale strategist Albert Edwards. "It matters not that the final Cypriot bailout plan did not touch smaller savers unlike the original proposal of a 6¾% tax (haircut) for ALL deposits under €100,000 in ALL banks (including foreign bank subsidiaries). The fact that this plan was originally sanctioned, despite deposit insurance, will have shaken small saver confidence to the bone. It certainly has shaken my confidence."

• In the U.S., pending home sales fell by 0.4 percent in February, which was a bit worse than the 0.3 percent expected by economists.

• Still, the overall trend in the U.S. housing market continues to be as strong as ever.  Anecdotal evidence suggests some local markets may be getting a bit too hot for comfort.  "People are fighting other people," said Jeff Gundlach of the Southern California housing market. "It's almost the same type of environment I remember from the late 1980s."

DOW SURGES TO NEW ALL-TIME RECORD HIGH, S&P FALLS JUST SHORT: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro

 Mar. 26, 2013

Wikimedia Commons

This relentless bull market inched closer to its all-time high despite a horrible reading on consumer confidence.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,559, +111.9 pts, +0.7 percent

S&P 500: 1,563, +12.0 pts, +0.7 percent

NASDAQ: 3,252, +17.1 pts, +0.5 percent

And now the top stories:

• The Dow resumed its rally and closed at a new all-time record high.  The S&P 500 ended just two points away from its all-time high of 1,565.15.

• The consumer confidence report was worrisome.  The headline number plunged to 59.7 from 68.0 a month ago.  Economists were looking for a reading of 67.5. "This month’s retreat was driven primarily by a sharp decline in expectations, although consumers were also more pessimistic in their assessment of current conditions," said Lynn Franco of the Conference Board. "The recent sequester has created uncertainty regarding the economic outlook and as a result, consumers are less confident."

• The February durable goods orders report reflected month-to-month volatility as expected.  Total orders jumped 5.7 percent, which was much stronger than the 3.9 percent expected.  Nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft and parts — aka core capex — however, declined 2.7 percent, versus expectations of a drop of only 1.1 percent.  Core capex is a key indicator of business investment activity.  "Smoothing through the monthly volatility in core capex orders, the trend is solidly upward," said UBS's Kevin Cummins. "In the first two months of Q1, core capex orders have increased at a 31.4% pace, up from the 20.4%q/q annualized rate in Q4."

• According to the S&P/Case-Shiller index, national home prices climbed by 1.02 percent month-over-month in January, which was stronger than the 0.8 percent increase expected by economists.

• In other housing news, new home sales fell by 4.6 percent in February.  Economists were looking for a gain of 3.9 percent. Moreover, the median sales price of new homes was $246,800, up from $226,400 the previous month.

• The stock market got a new cheerleader today.  Canaccord Genuity's Tony Dwyer cranked up his year end target on the S&P 500 to 1,760, making him the most bullish strategist on Wall Street.

Mamta Badkar

 Mar. 25, 2013

REUTERS/Yorgos Karahalis

Cyprus continued to dominate headlines.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,447.75, -64.28, -0.44%

S&P 500: 1,551.69, -5.20, -0.33%

NASDAQ: 3,235.30, -9.70, -0.30%

And now the top stories:

• Markets were rallying this morning after the EU and Cyprus agreed on a deal Sunday night to bailout the island nation's banking system. Under the new bailout agreement Cyprus' two largest banks will take haircuts, but insured depositors with less than €100,000 in their accounts won't be impacted. Under EU law, deposits of above €100,000 are not insured.
• . 

• The Dallas Fed manufacturing survey for March jumped to 7.4, from 2.2 in February. This beat expectations for a reading of 3.2. The gains were led by the shipments sub-index.

• But stocks tumbled after Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem told Reuters and FT the Cyprus bailout deal could considered a template for bank restructurings elsewhere in the euro area. The S&P 500 which had been flirting with record highs again but it failed to close above its record high of 1565.15.

• Just hours later however the Eurogroup issued a statement backing down from Dijsselbloem's earlier statement. "Cyprus is a specific case with exceptional challenges which required the bail-in measures we have agreed upon yesterday. Macro-economic adjustment programmes are tailor-made to the situation of the country concerned and no models or templates are used."

• Economists are saying that despite last night's deal, Cyprus has effectively left the euro. This is because a euro in Cyprus would be worth less than a euro in Germany. Think tank Open Europe said: "Ultimately, money is no longer fungible between Cyprus and the rest of the Eurozone and, at this point in time, it’s hard to argue that a euro in Cyprus is worth the same as a euro elsewhere. The real problem though may not be imposing the controls but removing them – Iceland still has capital controls in place, five years after it installed them (despite having the advantage of a devalued currency)."

STOCKS RALLY AFTER NOTHING HAPPENS: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro

Mar. 22, 2013

Flickr / jurek d.

Nicosia, Cyprus

It was a quiet end to the week.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,512, +90.5 pts, +0.6 percent

S&P 500: 1,556, +11.0 pts, +0.7 percent

NASDAQ: 3,245, +22.4 pts, +0.7 percent

And now the top stories:

• Cyprus continues to be the center of attention.  Leaders are scrambling to structure a deal to bail out the country's banks.  At this point, it appears these talks will continue into the weekend.

• Like many, Goldman Sachs' Jim O'Neill notes how small Cyprus is.  "I am fond of saying that China (at least in 2011) was creating the equivalent of another Greece every 121⁄2 weeks," he wrote today.  "China creates another Cyprus every week. If Cypriot banks reopen next Monday, in the time they have been shut, China has created another Cypriot economy."

• Societe Generale credit strategist Suki Mann has been impressed by the market's calm reactions to all of this uncertainty coming from Cyprus.  "Fantastic," wrote Mann in a note. "The market reaction to the crisis in Cyprus. There is no other way to describe it. Peripheral government debt is holding firm, equity indices have zoomed past the moon, safe-haven bonds have rallied (just in case) and corporate credit walks on by, merrily." 

• Mann says that this can be explained by the Fed's Ben Bernanke and his central bank peers around the world.  "There's been massive manipulation of the markets, it's given risk asset performance a huge boost for the best part of nearly two years, and we are sure there's more to go."

STOCKS FALL, STILL NO CYPRUS DEAL: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro

Mar. 21, 2013

AP Images

Bank of Cyprus employees sit outside of Greece's Finance Ministry.

Stocks fell after fresh jitters out of Cyprus.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,421, -90.2 pts, -0.6 percent

S&P 500: 1,545, -12.9 pts, -0.8 percent

NASDAQ: 3,222, -31.5 pts, -0.9 percent

And now the top stories:

• The situation in Cyprus continues to deteriorate by the minute.  A spokesperson for Cyprus Popular Bank announced it was limiting ATM withdrawals to 260 euros.  This came after Bloomberg reported that the bank had "enough liquidity to cover the next few hours."  Meanwhile, Cypriot legislators continue to scramble to structure a new bank bailout deal.

• U.S. weekly initial jobless claims climbed to just 336,000 from 334,000 last week.  Economists were looking for the number to jump to 340,000.  This was welcome news as America's labor market slowly improves.

• The closely-watched Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey unexpectedly jumped to 2.0 in March from -12.5 in February.  Economists were looking for a more modest improvement to -3.0.  The positive numbers suggest business is expanding in the region.

• The Philly Fed report confirmed the U.S. Flash PMI report, which climbed to 54.9 from February's 54.3 reading.  The PMI number was driven by improvements in orders and employment.

• Existing home sales climbed 0.8 percent in February to an annual rate of of 4.98 million. "Job growth in the improving economy and pent-up demand are causing both home sales and rental leasing to rise," said Lawrence Yun of the National Association of Realtors.

STOCKS RALLY: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro

 Mar. 20, 2013

Flickr / George M. Groutas

Party in Cyprus

Stocks are heading back toward their all-time highs.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,511, +55.9 pts, +0.3 percent

S&P 500: 1,558, +10.3 pts, +0.6 percent

NASDAQ: 3,254, +25.0 pts, +0.7 percent

And now the top stories:

• This week has been highlighted by jitters out of the Cypriot economy, which represents about half of one percent of the eurozone.  But for the most part, markets have held up well.  The S&P 500 is just a handful of points from an all-time high of 1,565.

• The big highlight of the day was the Fed's FOMC announcement.  As expected, they kept interest rates unchanged and reiterated their plan of quantitative easing via monthly purchases of $85 billion dollars' worth of bonds.

• In its updated economic forecasts, the Fed lowered its 2013 unemployment rate forecast to a range of 7.3 to 7.5 percent from a previous range of 7.4 to 7.7 percent. They also lowered their unemployment estimates for 2014 and 2015.  However, they also reduced their forecasts for GDP.

• Here was Chairman Bernanke's response to a question about Cyprus: "It's a difficult situation in Cyprus. In a financial sense, it's bigger than it is in a GDP sense, as its banking system is so much larger than its economy. The vote failed, and markets are up today, so I don't think the impact has been enormous."

• Global bellwether FedEx announced disappointing earnings, and it slashed its guidance.  "Our lower-than-expected results for the quarter and reduced full-year earnings outlook were driven by third quarter international revenues declining approximately $100 million versus our guidance primarily due to accelerating customer preference for lower-yielding international services, lower rate per pound and weight per shipment,” said CFO Alan B. Graf Jr. “We expect these international revenue trends to continue."  That's not good.

STOCKS MAKE COMEBACK, STILL NO CYPRUS DEAL: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro

 Mar. 19, 2013

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.

STOCKS FALL AFTER CYPRUS: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro

Flickr / TimOve

The tiny island nation of Cyprus is rattling the global financial markets.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,452, -62.0 pts, -0.4 percent

S&P 500: 1,552, -8.6 pts, -0.6 percent

NASDAQ: 3,237, -11.4 pts, -0.3 percent

And now the top stories:

• On Saturday, EU leaders announced a 10 billion euro bailout deal for Cyprus that would involve a surprise levy on Cypriot bank depositors.  This sent depositors running to ATMs to drain their accounts.  In addition to Cypriot mom and pops, Russian oligarchs, mobsters, and money launderers are also expected to take a hit.

• But given the market's minimal reaction, traders seem to think that the global damage will be minimal.

• Experts, however, seem to be concerned that this sets a bad precedent.  Specifically, depositors might fear their money could eventually be subject to surprise levies.  Jefferies' David Zervos told Bloomberg Television that markets were underpricing the risks.  "I guess I'm a little surprised at how complacent the markets are on this," he said.

• In U.S. economic news, the NAHB homebuilder confidence index unexpectedly fell to 44.  Economists were expecting it to increase to 47.  "That said, even with the recent sideways trend, the level of the index is still high enough to signal rapid growth in starts and new home sales," reassured UBS economist Sam Coffin.

• Since Friday, at least four top Wall Street strategists have raised their targets for the S&P 500.  Goldman Sachs raised its target to 1,625 from 1,575; Deutsche Bank raised its target to 1,625 from 1,600; Credit Suisse raised its target to 1,640 from 1,550; and Morgan Stanley raised its target to 1,600 from 1,434.

THE MILA KUNIS TOP — DOW WINNING STREAK COMES TO AN END: Here's What You Need To Know

Matthew Boesler

 Mar. 15, 2013

AP

Mila Kunis went on CNBC last night and said she was moving out of cash and into stocks.

And just like that, the Dow's epic 10-day win streak is over, and today's close is NOT an all-time high.

First, the scoreboard:

Dow Jones: 14,514.11, -25.03 (-0.17%)

S&P 500: 1,560.72, -2.51 (-0.16%)

Nasdaq: 3,249.07, -9.86 (-0.30%)

And now, the top stories:

• A steady flow of economic data was released Friday morning after a fairly quiet week. First out were February consumer prices at 8:30 AM ET. The headline index rose 0.7 percent from last month, above expectations for a 0.5 percent increase. However, core inflation (stripping out food and energy) rose 0.2 percent, right in line with expectations.

• Also at 8:30 was the release of the New York Fed's monthly Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The headline index moderated to 9.24 after a surprise surge to 10.04 from negative territory last month. Economists were expecting a smaller tick down to 10.00. Markets didn't respond much to either 8:30 release.

• February industrial production growth figures leaked a few minutes ahead of the scheduled 9:15 release. Although the numbers came in better than expected (0.8 percent vs. 0.5 percent), markets began to sell off on the news.

• The University of Michigan released the results of its preliminary March consumer confidence survey at 9:55, and it was not good news. The index, which was expected to rise to 80 from last month's 77.6 reading, actually fell sharply to 71.8. The decline was driven by consumers' outlook for future economic conditions as opposed to current conditions. In a statement, U of M said, “Never before in the long history of the surveys have so many consumers spontaneously mentioned that the disarray in federal economic policy was the main problem facing the economy.”

• President Obama unveiled an "energy blueprint" for his second presidential term this morning, which featured natural gas fairly prominently. Natural gas futures got a nice bump on the news.

DOW UP FOR 10TH STRAIGHT DAY: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro

\ Mar. 14, 2013

Larry1732 / Flickr

The Dow's epic winning streak has now gone on for 10 days.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,538, +83.8 pts, +0.5 percent

S&P 500: 1,563, +8.7 pts, +0.5 percent

NASDAQ: 3,257, +13.8 pts, +0.4 percent

And now the top stories:

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average has gone on 10-day win streaks only 11 times since World War II.  The last time it accomplished this before today was 16 years ago.  Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is just two points an all-time high.

• The good news about the U.S. economy continues to roll out.  This morning we learned that initial weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell to 332k from 342k a week ago.  This brought the four-week moving average down to its lowest level since March 2008.

• The reporting period for the current jobless claims data was for the week ending March 9.  This means it was the first full week since the sequester kicked in.  And that wasn't the only thing preventing claims from falling further.  "Seasonal adjustment factors were actually unsupportive for claims this week, so their outperformance here could be seen as evidence that the layoff side of the equation continues to improve quite notably," said TD Securities' Gennadiy Goldberg.

• UBS's Art Cashin and BTIG's Dan Greenhaus poured some cold water on everyone's enthusiasm by saying that there was nothing special about the current stock market rally.  "But at this point in 2012?" asked Greenhaus rhetorically.  "The S&P 500 was higher by 11% and as of 46 days into the year, 2013 is exactly where 2012 was. So while ebullience is spreading like wildfire, justified to some degree, there isn’t anything special about this rally, at least that we didn’t see just one year ago."

DOW MAKES COMEBACK AND CLOSES AT NEW ALL-TIME RECORD HIGH: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro

\ Mar. 12, 2013

US Army IMCOM / flickr

Stocks were in the red for most of the day.  But in the final few seconds, the Dow squeaked out a gain.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 14,450, +2.7 pts, +0.0 percent

S&P 500: 1,552, -3.7 pts, -0.2 percent

NASDAQ: 3,242, -10.5 pts, -0.3 percent

And now the top stories:

• There was no major economic data or earnings announcements to move markets today.  So it's no surprise that the markets didn't do much.

• At a conference today, Wal-Mart CFO Charles Holley said that a sales slowdown in late January and early February was not as disastrous as some recently leaked emails suggested.  He noted that the slowdown was primarily due to delayed tax returns and that sales normalized by the end of February. 

• We now have a new most bullish strategist on Wall Street: Jefferies' Sean Darby.  "We are lifting our year-end index target for the S&P 500 to 1,673 from 1,565 last calculated on December 17, 2012," wrote Darby in a note to clients.  "Better-than-expected 4Q earnings and forward guidance, a broadening in the earnings base, ongoing share buybacks and continuous rotation out of fixed income ought to keep US equities well bid."  Darby's year-end price target is the highest of any major strategist we can think of.

• NYU finance Professor Aswath Damodaran said the stock market was in a sweet spot, citing some of the same points Darby made.  However, he is worried about one thing. "One of my biggest worries is that economic growth comes back," he said in an interview with CNBC's Scott Wapner. "Interest rates will go up.  No matter what the Fed wants to believe it can do, if economic growth comes back, interest rates will go up"

• According to data from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, hedge funds have recently poured money into stocks.  Meanwhile, the private investor has been pulling out.