Factoid: According to Nielson, vinyl record sales are up 41% year-over-year.
ECO: There were a few economic releases today. PPI was a bit tamer than expected, retail sales were stronger than expected, and the Empire Manufacturing survey was stronger than expected. So, for today, the economy is doing slightly better than expected. Obviously, this all takes a back seat to the events taking place in Europe.
PPI (YOY Since 1948)
Mid-Day Rally: The market experienced another mid-day rally day. These have been pretty common lately, often due to better than expected (or less bad) news out of Europe. The chart below, which shows intra-day movement over the past twenty days, illustrates the fact that only six days have closed near the lows. Meanwhile, fourteen of the last twenty days have closed near the high of the day.
S&P 500 (Intraday – 20 days)
Market Today: The market wavered between negative and flat through the first half of the trading today as investors largely overlooked positive economic news. Around noon, however, news out of Italy moved stocks higher through the close. Mario Monti, who will replace Silvio Berlusconi as Italy’s Prime Minister, is reportedly set to present a new government to battle the country’s debt crisis. All sectors participated in the rally, with noticeable strength in technology stocks.
Have a good day! Brent
