Morning Journal--The odds of a 'soft landing'

  News on Stocks in Our Portfolios

FactSet Research Systems beats by $0.01, beats on revenue

·         FactSet Research Systems (FDS): FQ2 EPS of $1.22 beats by $0.01.

·         Revenue of $226.9M (+6.5% Y/Y) beats by $0.54M.

 

Economics

   This Week’s Data

            February industrial production rose 0.6% versus expectations of +0.3%; capacity utilization came in at 78.8 versus estimates of 78.6.

            http://scottgrannis.blogspot.com/2014/03/global-industrial-production-continues.html

                February CPI was reported at +0.1%, in line: ex food and energy, it was also up 0.1%, also in line.

            February housing starts fell fractionally versus forecasts of a 3% increase.

                http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2014/03/housing-starts-at-907-thousand-annual.html

   Other

            Update on the big four economic indicators (short):

            http://advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/Big-Four-Economic-Indicators.php

            The odds of a ‘soft landing’ (medium and today’s must read):

            http://advisorperspectives.com/dshort/guest/Lance-Roberts-140317-Fedspeak-Recession-Indicator.php

Politics

  Domestic

Obama’s new overtime rules (medium):

http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2014/03/obamas-demand-for-wagerules-for-salaried-workers-will-have-far-more-impact-than-proposed-minimum-wage-changes.html

Obama’s ‘most transparent administration ever’ (medium):

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-17/most-transparent-administration-ever-rejected-record-number-foia-requests