Markets finally perked up after days of painfully low volatility.
First the scoreboard:
Dow: 13,250, +85.3, +0.6%
S&P 500: 1,415, +9.9, +0.7%
NASDAQ: 3,062, +31.4, +1.0%
And now the top stories:
- If you've been following our closing bell posts, then you would know that markets have experienced extremely low volatility. Dennis Gartman noted that the trading range during the last eight days was the narrowest it has been since 1950.
- A mixed bag of economic data couldn't hold back stocks today. First, we got the latest measure of weekly initial jobless claims. The measure inched up to 366k, which was just barely higher than the 365k economists were expecting. Nothing to see here.
- July residential housing starts slipped to an annualized rate of 746k, which was worse than the 756k rate economists were looking for. On the brighter side, permits jumped to an annualized pace of 812k, a four-month high. DON'T BUY: These 7 Cities Are Renters' Markets >
- The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey index climbed to -7.1. But economists were hoping for a reading of -5. The Philly Fed survey is a key indicator of U.S. jobs and the greater U.S. economy. So this was not great news. SEE ALSO: The Excruciatingly Slow US Economic Recovery In 7 Charts >
- UBS economist Drew Matus summed up the economic data by calling it, "More mixed messages." Indeed, just a few weeks (or even days) ago, bad economic data had experts concluding that the Federal Reserve would have to unleash stimulus. However, the sharp upturn in the data has everyone backpeddling.
- Lance Roberts argues that gold, bonds and the dollar all point to no quantitative easing from the Fed. Meanwhile, JP Morgan's Tom Lee has noted that economists have been predictably inaccurate, which may be more of a reason to be buying stocks.
- PRESENTING: Abby Joseph Cohen's Epic Presentation On What's Really Happening In Markets And The Economy >
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