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- The Dow Jones industrial average has closed at an all-time high, beating the record it set in October 2007, before the financial crisis and Great Recession. The Dow ended the day up 126 points 14,253.77, beating its previous record by 89 points. The S&P 500 rose 15 points and the Nasdaq gained 42.
- One analyst says today's Dow record signals that "things are getting back to normal" after the worst recession since the 1930s. Nicolas Colas, chief market strategist at BNY ConvergEx, says unemployment is still too high and economic growth too sluggish, but "stocks are anticipating improvement." Car sales are at a five-year high, home prices are rising, and U.S. companies continue to report big profits.
- House and Senate Democrats want to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. That's more than a dollar higher than President Barack Obama proposed in his State of the Union address. Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin says Obama's proposed increase to $9 an hour isn't enough. Top Republicans have rejected the idea, saying it would hurt employers.
- Martha Stewart says she did nothing unethical when she signed an agreement to open shops in most of J.C. Penney's stores. She says she was only looking to expand her brand. Stewart testified in New York state court today over whether the company she founded breached its contract to sell cookware, bedding and other items exclusively at Macy's when she inked the deal with Penney.
- Airline passengers will be able to carry small knives, souvenir baseball bats, golf clubs and other sports equipment onto planes beginning next month. The Transportation Security Administration says the policy change it announced today will allow it to concentrate on more serious safety threats. The change drew an immediate outcry from unions representing flight attendants and other airline workers, who say the items are still dangerous in the hands of the wrong passengers.
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