Beige Book Breaks, Markets Mixed, Rates Staying Low

The Federal Beige Book report broke the bull fueled rally today.
Although the report clearly showed growth in 9 of the 12 Federal
regions, the increased was considered modest by most economists. The muted results added to the speculation that the Fed will hold rates near the record lows for an extended period. Stocks reacted by selling off from the morning rally with the DJIA falling -9.22 to 10396.76, the Nasdaq easing lower by -0.11 to 2280.68 and the S&P 500 gaining +0.48 to 1118.79.

^JOYG^: The mining equipment make climbed 5.85% or $3.01 to $54.51/share after beating first quarter profit estimates.

^ETH^: The home furnishing retailer soared 25.14% or $4.04 to $20.11/share after stating its orders are up 25% over last year

^RSH^: Climbed 5.84% or $1.16 to $21.03/share after a rumor that private equity speculators are looking to take over the retailer.

^MDVN^: Plunged 64.45% or $27.15 to $13.10/share after their experimental Alzheimer’s drug failed to work as expected.

Oil moved higher by $1.26 to $80.94, gold advanced $6.60 to $1144.00 and the VIX fell another 1.21% to 18.83.

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Market Snapshot

Dow

-9.22 10,396.76

NASDAQ

-0.11 2,280.68

S&P 500

+0.48 1,118.79
Economic
News

Personal Income (Jan): Consensus: 0.4%, Prior: 0.3%

Personal Spending (Jan): Consensus: 0.4%, Prior: 0.3%

PCE Prices – Core (Jan): Consensus: 0.0%, Prior: 0.1%

Construction Spending (Jan): Consensus: -0.6%, Prior: -1.2%

ISM Index (Feb): Consensus: 58.0, Prior: 58.4

Auto Sales (Feb): Consensus: NA, Prior: 3.8M

Truck Sales (Feb): Consensus: NA, Prior: 4.4M

Challenger Job Cuts YoY (Feb): Consensus: NA, Prior: -70.4%

ADP Employment Change (Feb): Consensus: -10K, Prior: -22K

ISM Services (Feb): Consensus: 51.0, Prior: 50.5

Crude Inventories (02/26): Consensus: NA, Prior: 3.03M

Fed’s Beige Book (Mar): Consensus: NA, Prior: NA

Initial Claims (02/27): Consensus: 475K, Prior: 495K

Continuing Claims (02/20): Consensus: NA, Prior: 4617K

Productivity-Rev. (Q4): Consensus: 6.2%, Prior: 6.2%

Unit labor Costs (Q4): Consensus: -4.4%, Prior: -4.4%

Factory Orders (Jan): Consensus: 1.2%, Prior: 1.0%

Pending Home Sales (Jan): Consensus: 1.7%, Prior: 1.0%

Unemployment Rate (Feb): Consensus: 9.8%, Prior: 9.7%

Nonfarm Payrolls (Feb): Consensus: -20K, Prior: -20K

Hourly Earnings. (Feb): Consensus: 0.2%, Prior: 0.2%

Average Workweek (Feb): Consensus: 33.7, Prior: 33.9

Consumer Credit (Jan): Consensus: -$3.8B, Prior: -$1.7B