HOT MARKET - Renewed Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm was renewed today mainly on one economic data point that gave investors something to hang their trading hats on. That’s because yesterday, Janet Yellen set fear to flight on raised concern about a higher rate environment. Higher rates are bad for stocks, but if the economy is improving and driving it, then perhaps it’s an acceptable evil.

See my latest report on gold and the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) just published: Gold ETF - Where Do We Go From Here?

U.S. Markets

Market ETF	1:15PM	YTD	TTM
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY)	+0.6%	+1.7%	+20.6%
SPDR Dow Jones (NYSE: DIA)	+0.3%	-1.3%	+12.8%
PowerShares (Nasdaq: QQQ)	+0.5%	+2.9%	+31.7%
SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD)	+0.1%	+10.5%	-17.4%
iShares US Real Estate (NYSE: IYR)	-0.1%	+6.6%	-2.5%
United States Oil (NYSE: USO)	+0.2%	+1.3%	+6.9%
PowerShares DB US$  Bullish (NYSE: UUP)	+0.3%	-0.1%	-4.7%
PIMCO Total Return ETF (NYSE: BOND)	-0.0%	+1.6%	-2.9%

Stocks are moving higher Thursday on decent economic news. A better than expected result on a forward looking economic data point took market attention away from fear of rising interest rates. Yesterday, the market contended with a hard dose of reality from the new Fed chief, who set fear running about the forward outlook for interest rates. It helps that the Ukraine is sorting itself out as well.

International Markets

EUROPE	%	ASIA/PACIFIC	%
Vanguard FTSE Europe (NYSE: VGK)	+0.3%	Precidian MAXIS Nikkei (NYSE: NKY)	-1.8%
iShares MSCI UK (NYSE: EWU)	-0.1%	SPDR S&P China (NYSE: GXC)	-0.8%
iShares MSCI France (NYSE: EWQ)	+0.2%	iShares Asia 50 (NYSE: AIA)	-1.2%
iShares MSCI Germany (NYSE: EWG)	-0.2%	iShares MSCI S. Korea (NYSE: EWY)	-1.1%
Global X FTSE Greece (NYSE: GREK)	+1.0%	iPath MSCI India (NYSE: INP)	+0.7%

Asian ETFs were mostly lower today on continued China concerns, and Europe is dealing with more rhetoric between world leaders that could threaten the euro. President Obama set forth on his promised path of increased sanctions against Russian individuals, but Russia is striking back with its own penalties for the West. Markets would prefer we just forget about that little Russian indiscretion in Crimea and move on as if nothing ever happened.

Economic Data

TODAY’S ECONOMIC REPORT SCHEDULE
Economic Data Point	Prior	Exp.	Actual
THURSDAY
Weekly Jobless Claims	315K	325K	320K
Bloomberg Consumer Comfort	-27.6		-29.0
EIA Natural Gas Report	-195 Bcf		-48 Bcf
Existing Home Sales	4.62 M	4.6 M	4.6 M
Philly Fed Index	-6.3	+3.0	+9.0
Leading Economic Indicators	+0.1%	+0.3%	+0.5%

The leading data point today was clearly the Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) result for February. It showed 0.5% growth, versus expectations for a slower rate of improvement. If the economic outlook is improving, then perhaps the market can accept the Fed’s expectations for higher interest rates.

The consumer sector looked a bit worse for wear today after Bloomberg’s weekly measure showed slight deterioration. However, Jobless Claims stuck low and Existing Home Sales hung in there at their recent poor mark. All hopes were pegged on the LEI data, which was supported by a better manufacturing outlook out of the Philly area.

Commodity Markets (1:00 PM ET)

United States Oil (NYSE: USO)	+0.3%
iPath SP Crude Oil (NYSE: OIL)	+0.1%
U.S. Natural Gas (NYSE: UNG)	-0.6%
U.S. Gasoline (NYSE: UGA)	-0.2%
SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD)	-0.1%
Market Vectors Gold Miners (NYSE: GDX)	-0.2%
iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV)	-0.9%
iPath DJ UBS Industrial Metals (NYSE: JJM)	+0.4%
Teucrium Corn ETF (NYSE: CORN)	-0.3%
Teucrium Wheat Fund (NYSE: WEAT)	+1.1%
Teucrium Soybean Fund (NYSE: SOYB)	-0.6%
iPath DJ-UBS Cocoa (NYSE: NIB)	-1.2%
iPath DJ-UBS Sugar (NYSE: SGG)	-0.7%
ICE Orange Juice Conc.	+0.4%
CME Lumber	+1.2%
CME Live Cattle	-0.7%

The energy complex improved on the day’s economic data, but the weekly natural gas draw decreased thanks to milder national weather through the period that helped ease pressure on pricing. Gold looks to have settled after giving back all its recent gains (about 5%) on the Crimea crisis. Sugar and Cocoa remain tightly influenced by events in the north of South America.

Stock Activity

The revised rate outlook has Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) up 1.7% Thursday. If the rate curve rises and shorter duration rates rise as well, BofA stands to benefit greatly.

EPS REPORTS
Company	Ticker
THURSDAY
AAR Corp.	NYSE: AIR
Adecoagro	Nasdaq: AGRO
BG Medicine	Nasdaq: BGMD
Burlington Stores	Nasdaq: BURL
Cato	Nasdaq: CATO
ConAgra Foods	NYSE: CAG
Constellium	Nasdaq: CSTM
dELiA*s	Nasdaq: DLIA
Envivio	Nasdaq: ENVI
Five Star Quality Care	NYSE: FVE
IHS	NYSE: IHS
Lennar	NYSE: LEN
New York & Co.	NYSE: NWY
Nike	NYSE: NKE
NTS	NYSE: NTS
Rally Software	Nasdaq: RALY
Scholastic	Nasdaq: SCHL
Shoe Carnival	Nasdaq: SCVL
The Marcus Corp.	NYSE: MCS
TIBCO Software	Nasdaq: TIBX
Wet Seal	Nasdaq: WTSL

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS
BIGGEST GAINERS	% Gain
Kelly Services (Nasdaq: KELYB)	+39%
IsoRay (NYSE: ISR)	+25%
Q2 Holdings (Nasdaq: QTWO)	+30%
BG Medicine (Nasdaq: BGMD)	+30%
Aastrom Biosciences (Nasdaq: ASTM)	+13%
Vertex Energy (Nasdaq: VTNR)	+21%
MagneGas (Nasdaq: MNGA)	+22%
China Jo-Jo Drugstores (Nasdaq: CJJD)	+15%
CombiMatrix (Nasdaq: CBMXW)	+21%
Burlington Stores (Nasdaq: BURL)	+15%
BIGGEST LOSERS	% Drop
Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT)	-17%
Cato Corp. (Nasdaq: CATO)	-13%
La Jolla Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq: LJPC)	-12%
Agenus (Nasdaq: AGEN)	-12%
Cinedigm (Nasdaq: CIDM)	-12%
NV5 Holdings (Nasdaq: NVEEW)	-12%
Response Genetics (Nasdaq: RGDX)	-10%
Intellicheck Mobilisa (NYSE: IDN)	-10%
Supertel Hospitality (Nasdaq: SPPRO)	-10%
Digital Power (NYSE: DPW)	-10%

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.