TUESDAY’S MARKET: Excellent Economics Minus Putin Equals Stock Surge

Two economic data points this morning are serving to drive stocks significantly higher. It’s also helping that as Ukraine makes inroads against Russian separatists in Donetsk, Russia is engaging in discussions and meetings rather than rolling tanks. I’m not sure that will last, but signs are certainly looking like Russia might take a longer term approach to fomenting discord in Ukraine rather than rolling tanks to the Dnipro River. It’s a matter that has my full attention, so you can count on my updating of the info regularly here. Consider following the column or subscribing to our feed for updates.

Also see our report: Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) – Nearing Inflection Point

U.S. Markets

Market ETF	12:16 PM ET
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY)	+0.4%
SPDR Dow Jones (NYSE: DIA)	+0.4%
PowerShares (Nasdaq: QQQ)	+0.3%
SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD)	-0.3%
iShares US Real Estate (NYSE: IYR)	+0.2%
United States Oil (NYSE: USO)	-0.7%
PowerShares DB US$  Bullish (NYSE: UUP)	+0.4%
PIMCO Total Return ETF (NYSE: BOND)	-0.0%

Stocks are enjoying upside today on peace and solid economic data.

International Markets

EUROPE	%	ASIA/PACIFIC	%
Vanguard FTSE Europe (NYSE: VGK)	+0.0%	Precidian MAXIS Nikkei (NYSE: NKY)	0.0%
iShares MSCI UK (NYSE: EWU)	-0.2%	SPDR S&P China (NYSE: GXC)	-0.1%
iShares MSCI France (NYSE: EWQ)	+0.1%	iShares Asia 50 (NYSE: AIA)	+0.5%
iShares MSCI Germany (NYSE: EWG)	+0.4%	iShares MSCI S. Korea (NYSE: EWY)	+0.5%
Global X FTSE Greece (NYSE: GREK)	+0.5%	iPath MSCI India (NYSE: INP)	+0.3%

Europe rested easy as well Tuesday, as Angela Merkel is talking tough with the Russians and scheduling trips to Ukraine to create a forum for further discussions between the Ukrainians and Russians.

Economic Data

TUESDAY’S ECONOMIC REPORT SCHEDULE
Economic Data Point	Prior	Expected	Actual
TUESDAY
ICSC Weekly Store Sales	-1.4%		-1.3%
-Year-to-Year Pace	+3.2%		+3.8%
Redbook Store Sales	+4.8%		+3.7%
Housing Starts	0.945 M	0.963 M	1.093 M
-Permits	0.973 M		1.052 M
Consumer Price Index	0.3%	0.1%	+0.1%
-Core CPI	0.1%	0.2%	+0.1%

The data today was excellent for stock investors. Housing Starts exceeded expectations for July and the prior month was revised higher. Permit issuance for new home construction also was revised higher and exceeded expectations in the latest report. This is supporting yesterday’s move in housing stocks, which was driven by the report showing happiness among homebuilders.

Just as important today, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in cool, and so the prospect of Janet Yellen’s Fed cooling down rhetoric about interest rates is higher when she reaches a hot mic on Friday at Jackson Hole. The 0.1% pace of price increase on the Core level was especially enthusing.

Commodity Markets (12:15 PM ET)

United States Oil (NYSE: USO)	-0.7%
iPath SP Crude Oil (NYSE: OIL)	-0.8%
U.S. Natural Gas (NYSE: UNG)	+3.0%
U.S. Gasoline (NYSE: UGA)	+0.5%
Sprott Physical Gold Trust (NYSE: PHYS)	-0.1%
Market Vectors Gold Miners (NYSE: GDX)	-0.8%
iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV)	-1.0%
iPath DJ UBS Industrial Metals (NYSE: JJM)	+0.2%
Teucrium Corn ETF (NYSE: CORN)	-0.2%
Teucrium Wheat Fund (NYSE: WEAT)	+0.9%
Teucrium Soybean Fund (NYSE: SOYB)	-0.4%
iPath DJ-UBS Cocoa (NYSE: NIB)	-1.6%
iPath DJ-UBS Sugar (NYSE: SGG)	-0.6%
ICE Orange Juice Conc.	-0.9%
CME Lumber	+1.4%
CME Live Cattle	-0.5%

As peace rings true, gold is declining, which you can see here in the movement of the PHYS, GDX and SLV. Natural gas is making a big move today, with the UNG climbing 3.0%. It’s the weather, believe it or not. Forecasts indicate a heating trend in the Midwest that should spread East and Southward as August comes to a close. The hotter weather comes against an extremely cool July, and is lifting gas prices on the prospect of increasing demand from power plants to fuel energy needs of air conditioner usage. I like nat gas for other longer term reasons that I’ll get into in detail soon.

Stock Activity

We have a short EPS list today, but it included a positive data point from Home Depot (NYSE: HD), which is serving to support homebuilders again. The day’s most active list follows, and we may pick out one of the companies in the list to take a closer look at, so follow us via email to receive reports printed at all of our publishing sites.

EPS REPORTS
Company	Ticker
TUESDAY
TJX Co.	NYSE: TJX
Home Depot	NYSE: HD
Dick’s Sporting Goods	NYSE: DKS
American Woodmark	Nasdaq: AMWD
Cheetah Mobile	Nasdaq: CMCM
Elizabeth Arden	Nasdaq: RDEN
John B Sanfilippo & Son	Nasdaq: JBSS
La-Z-Boy	NYSE: LZB
Medtronic	NYSE: MDT
Navios Maritime Acquisition	NYSE: NNA
Photronics	Nasdaq: PLAB
Urologix	Nasdaq: ULGX
Youku Tudou	Nasdaq: YOKU

TODAY’S MOST ACTIVE STOCKS
BIGGEST GAINERS	% Gain
Newcastle Investments (NYSE: NCT)	+206%
China HGS Real Estate (Nasdaq: HGSH)	+79%
Digital Ally (Nasdaq: DGLY)	+35%
Aquasition (NYSE: AQU)	+25%
Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO)	+23%
Skilled Healthcare (NYSE: SKH)	+21%
Vringo (Nasdaq: VRNG)	+17%
Overland Storage (Nasdaq: OVRL)	+14%
American Woodmark (Nasdaq: AMWD)	+15%
Blonder Tongue Laboratory (NYSE: BDR)	+13%
BIGGEST LOSERS	% Drop
Elizabeth Arden (Nasdaq: RDEN)	-24%
TrovaGene (Nasdaq: TROVW)	-20%
Oncothyreon (Nasdaq: ONTY)	-18%
One Horizon Group (Nasdaq: OHGI)	-15%
Lpath (Nasdaq: LPTN)	-13%
Fusion Telecommunications (Nasdaq: FSNN)	-13%
Lilis Energy (Nasdaq: LLEX)	-11%
Eagle Bulk Shipping (Nasdaq: EGLE)	-11%
Astro-Med (Nasdaq: ALOT)	-11%
Pacific Booker Minerals (NYSE: PBM)	-10%

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