Erratic Positive Market, Inflation Fears Subside, Rates Higher

The final trading day of the week ended in an erratic yet positive close on the session. A lower than expected Consumer Price Index brought bullish sentiment to rate hike shocked stocks. The subsiding inflation fears calmed investor’s fears concerning additional rate hikes. In addition, the Fed was quick to point out that the surprise rate increase was procedural therefore shouldn’t be taken as a sign for more increases in the near future. The DJIA eased higher by +9.45 to 10402.35, the Nasdaq climbed +2.16 to 2243.87 and the S&P 500 added +2.42 to 1109.17.

^APOL^: Fell 7.37% or $4.53 to $56.92/share after the for profit college degree provider reported earnings that missed analysts estimates.

^CRA^: A Piper Jaffray downgrade send shares sliding 7.13% or 50 cents to $6.51.

^DELL^: Shares dropped 6.65% or 96 cents to $13.47 after missing earnings and gross profit estimates.

^WBMD^: Climbed 6.37% or $2.50 to $41.76 /share after stating it expects to beat 2010 estimates.

Oil climbed 92 cents to $79.98, gold advanced $3.30 to 1122.00 and the VIX fear index fell 2.96% to 20.02.

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Market Snapshot

Dow

+9.45 10,402.35

NASDAQ

+2.16 2,243.87

S&P 500

+2.42 1,109.17
Economic
News

Empire Manufacturing (Feb): Consensus: 18.00, Prior: 15.92

Net Long-Term TIC Flows (Dec): Consensus: $50.0B, Prior: $126.4B

Housing Starts (Jan): Consensus: 580K, Prior: 557K

Building Permits (Jan): Consensus: 615K, Prior: 653K

Export Prices ex-ag. (Jan): Consensus: NA, Prior: 0.5%

Import Prices ex-oil (Jan): Consensus: NA, Prior: 0.4%

Industrial Production (Jan): Consensus: 0.8%, Prior: 0.6%

Capacity Utilization (Jan): Consensus: 72.6%, Prior: 72.0%

Treasury Budget (Jan): Consensus: -$46.0B, Prior: -$91.9B

Minutes of FOMC Meeting (1/28): Consensus: NA, Prior: NA

Continuing Claims (02/6): Consensus: 4500K, Prior: 4538K

Initial Claims (02/13): Consensus: 430K, Prior: 440K

PPI (Jan): Consensus: 0.8%, Prior: 0.4%

Core PPI (Jan): Consensus: 0.1%, Prior: 0.0%

Leading Indicators (Jan): Consensus: 0.5%, Prior: 1.1%

Philadelphia Fed (Feb): Consensus: 17.0, Prior: 15.2

Crude Inventories (2/12): Consensus: NA, Prior: 2.42M

CPI (Jan): Consensus: 0.3%, Prior: 0.1%

Core CPI (Jan): Consensus: 0.2%, Prior: 0.1%