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- The Dow rose to a near record Tuesday, closing up 47 points at 14,018. The S&P 500 also came close to its record gaining a little more than 2 points to 1,519. The Nasdaq was down about 5 and a-half points at 3,186. Stocks were driven higher by beauty products maker Avon and luxury clothing and accessories company Michael Kors, whose results impressed investors.
- World stock markets are mixed today. Japan's Nikkei tumbled as the yen strengthened against the dollar following a pledge by finance ministers from the world's major advanced economies to refrain from intentionally weakening their currencies. In Europe, the benchmark indexes in Britain and France are lower, while Germany's DAX is marginally higher.
- We'll get more economic data from the federal government later today when the Commerce Department releases retail sales figures for January. The Commerce Department also releases its report on business inventories for December.
- President Barack Obama is kicking off three days of travel to rally support for the job-creation and economic proposals he unveiled in his State of the Union address. He'll be in Asheville, N.C., today to visit Linamar Corp., a supplier of engine and transmission components that has expanded its manufacturing operations. Last night, Obama asked Congress to focus on attracting jobs to the U.S., training American workers and boosting investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and clean energy.
- Comcast is holding a conference call this morning to discuss its fourth-quarter earnings and elaborate on a $16.7 billion deal that will give the cable-TV giant full ownership of NBCUniversal. The decision to buy General Electric Co.'s 49 percent stake ahead of schedule came as a surprise when Comcast announced it late yesterday.
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