| January Core PPI Up 0.4%, Largest Increase Since July 2011 and Jobless claims plunge to 348,000 |
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Headline: January core PPI climbed 0.4 percent, rising above expectations. This was the largest increase since July 2011.Interestingly, 40 percent of this rise was attributed to prices for pharmaceutical preparations.Consensus: Expectations were for a 0.4 percent month-over-month increase in PPI. And a 0.2 percent gain in core PPI (ex-food and energy).Analysis: PPI measures the average change in prices from the seller's perspective. It acts as an indicator for commodity prices in the manufacturing sector which eventually trickle down to the consumer.Banks stocks and the broader market are on the rise again today, in spite of a threatened downgrade by Moody's …Quotes delayed, except where indicated otherwise. Delay times are 15 mins for NASDAQ, NYSE and Amex. See also delay times for other exchanges. Quotes and other information supplied by independent providers identified on the Yahoo! Finance partner page. [Read the full article] The Greeks scrambled to put together a deal to beat the March 20 deadline when they will be faced with a substantial refunding need. But now that they have a deal among themselves and agreed to pretty much all of the pre-conditions for a fresh bailout, the Europeans seem be in no hurry to discuss it with them. A meeting of the Euro-zone finance ministers is tentatively scheduled for Monday, but there is also talk that the actual deal may get pushed to after the Greek elections in April. Some have started wondering if the Europeans are thinking of pushing the Greeks out of the common currency club. I don(TM)t think that is likely, but the continued delay in closing the deal is adding to market uncertainty. Greece-related concerns aside, today(TM)s trading action will also reflect Moody(TM)s ratings warning to a number of major banking institutions, including J.P. Morgan (:JPM), Goldman Sachs (:GS) and Morgan Stanley (:MS). [Read the full article] Philadelphia Fed Index for February climbed to the highest level in four months, suggesting that the regional production continued to expand at a faster pace. THE TAKEAWAY: Philadelphia Index Climbed more than Expected in February> Regional Production Continued to Grow> U.S. Dollar FallsPhiladelphia Fed Index for February climbed to the highest level in four months, suggesting that the regional production continued to expand at a faster pace. The results from the Business Outlook Survey of Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed the index rose to 10.2 this month from 7.3 in January. The print beats consensus forecast of 9 from the Bloomberg News survey.Within the Philadelphia Fed survey, new orders index registered for the positive reading for the fifth consecutive month and advanced from 6.9 to 11.7, reflecting higher demand for manufacturing goods this month. [Read the full article] 
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