Thursday, October 23, 2014

Economic Journal - Thursday, 10/23/2014



(As of 7:20 am PST)

US stocks are surging this morning after yesterday’s disappointing close.  US indexes erased all of yesterdays losses in the early going as the Dow surged well over 200 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P500 were also up over 1%.  Strong earnings results from the industrial sector got things going early.  Better than expected earnings from Caterpillar, 3M Co., and General Motors ignited the buying as investors applauded the quarterly results and outlook from the three Dow components. Other positive results from Southwest Airlines and athletic retailer Under Armour added to the momentum.  Economic data is light today but mostly positive. Jobless claims jumped 17,000 last week to 283,000, but the move was less than what analysts expected and remained below 300,000 for the sixth straight week. An upbeat report out of Europe showed the initial reading of the Euro-zone Markit PMI for October reached a 2 month high, beating analyst expectations. European stocks are on pace for a higher close. Asian stocks finished mostly lower overnight. Gold is down 1% today while oil is up 1% to just over $81.50 per barrel. Interest rates are higher and treasury prices dropped as investors bought up stocks. The 10 yr. treasury yield is back up to 2.27% after dipping below 2% just a couple weeks ago.

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