AIG Strikes Deal, Stocks Surge, Greece Saved

A huge $35 billion dollar deal with American International Group selling a unit to Prudential was icing on the cake for the massively bullish session. Better than expected Consumer Spending and Manufacturing figures pushed shares sharply higher on the day. Positive news regarding Greece and the European Union added to the optimism. The DJIA advanced +78.53 to 10403.79, the Nasdaq moved higher by +35.31 to 2273.57 and the broad based S&P 500 climbed +11.22 to 1115.71.

A huge increase in Macau gambling revenue lifted casino names including ^WYNN^ climbing 4,17% or $2.65 to $66.22.

^AAPL^: Advanced 2.14% or $4.37 to $208.99 ;after being added to Deutsche Bank’s short term buy list.

^F^: Moved higher by 5.71% or 67 cents to $12.41 upon increasing its first quarter European production target.

^NYT^: Climbed 7.40% or 81 cents to $11.75 after option activity indicated the paper may be a takeover target.

Oil fell 86 cents to $78.80, gold dipped 60 cents to $1118.00 and the VIX index gave back 1.23% to 19.26.

Just Launched NEW ETF PowerRatings! Find the best ETFs to trade daily. Everything you need to trade ETFs in just one number. Get Your 7 Day Free Trial now.

Market Snapshot

Dow

+78.53 10,403.79

NASDAQ

+35.31 2,273.57

S&P 500

+11.22 1,115.71
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