Succinct Summations of Week’s Events 2.20.14 (+ bonus)

So once again we're at the usual Sunday night one-page eye shot of the week's events in the world of finance.  I haven't supplied a reading list lately so this weekend's bonus is today's "Sunday Reads" column courtesy of Mr. Ritholz.  

Succinct Summations of Week’s Events 2.20.14

by Barry Ritholtz - February 20th, 2015, 3:30pm

Succinct Summations week ending February 20^th

Positives:

1. Stocks keep humming, the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 made new all-time highs.
2. Initial jobless claims fell to 283k vs the 290k expected.
3. EU consumer confidence hit the highest levels since Sept 2007
4. Markit US manufacturing PMI came in at 54.3, slightly higher than expected.
5. The Nasdaq Composite is now less than 4% away from taking out the March 2000 highs.

Negatives:

1. PPI fell 0.8% m/o/m vs expectations of a 0.4% drop. Core PPI fell 0.1% m/o/m vs expectations for a 0.1% rise.
2. UK inflation fell to 0.3% in January, the lowest number since they began measuring CPI in 1988.
3. Empire manufacturing index came in at 7.78, a slight miss and down from 9.95 last month.
4. NAHB confidence index fell to 55 in February, down from 57 in January (still firmly in positive territory).
5. Housing starts fell 2% to 1.065mm, slightly lower than expected.
6. Industrial production rose 0.2% in January, below the 0.3% expected rise.
7. Philly fed came in at 5.2 vs 9 expected, the lowest reading in a year.

10 Sunday Reads

by Barry Ritholtz - February 22nd, 2015, 7:30am

Settle in for some snowy Sunday morning reads:

• Questioning Your Most Dangerous Assumptions: Does Rebalancing Add Value? (Newfound)
• The History of the Global Equity Portfolio (Pragmatic Capitalism)
• Value Investing Fund Assessment: The Incorrect Approach (Alpha Architect)
• Swedroe: Be Leery Of Hedge Funds (ETF.com) see also Hedge Fund Wades Into RadioShack’s Rough Waters (WSJ)
• Why Tesla’s battery for your home should terrify utilities (Verge)
• The Primary Tactics Used to Influence Others (Farnam Street)
• Guy Who Gets Paid to Say Obamacare Doesn’t Work Can’t Find a Single True Fact to Support His Case (NY Mag) see also Krugman: The Mystery of Moore (NYTimes)
• How to Counter the Russian Information War (Foreign Affairs)
• Would you leave your family behind to live on Mars? These people would. (Washington Post)
• FiveThirtyEight’s Election-Style Oscar Predictions (FiveThirtyEight) see also The Biggest Best Picture Upsets At The Oscars In The Past 25 Years (FiveThirtyEight)