REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Entrepreneur Elon Musk and his wife Talulah Musk arrive for the State Dinner being held for French President Francois Hollande at the White House in Washington February 11, 2014.
- The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a "clean," no-strings-attached bill to raise the debt ceiling through March 2015. It's expected to be approved by the Democrat-controlled Senate in the coming days. An interesting detail from BI politics reporter Brett LoGiurato: "House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) cast a rare vote in favor of the legislation. In a surprising vote against leadership, House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) voted 'no.' "
- China exports climbed 10.6% year-over-year in January, crushing forecasts of 2%. Imports also trounced expectations, rising 10% versus 3% expected. Trade growth was "much stronger than we had expected," said RBS economist Louis Kuijs in a report. "This should make markets more relaxed about both global demand and demand in China's own economy.
- The Bank Of England raised the UK's 2014 GDP Forecast to 3.4% from 2.8%, based on reduced uncertainty and falling unemployment.
- Eurozone industrial production fell 0.8% year-over-year in 2013. And it fell 0.7% month-over-month in December.
- Australian consumer confidence declined for the third-straight month on fears of a jobless recovery.
- Markets are rallying around the world, led by Hong Kong's Hang Seng at 1.47%.
- Bitcoin prices are off yesterday's lows, after a worldwide hack caused most major exchanges to temporarily halt withdrawals. Prices are now $648 according to Coindesk. As we reported last night, although such an attack seemed to undermine one of Bitcoin's key premises - that the cryptocurrency was immune to such a coordinated assault - Bitcoin evangelists remain mostly unfazed.
- Toyota announced a global recall of 1.9 million Priuses because of faulty software that could cause the vehicle to slow down suddenly. It's the largest ever recall for the hybrid car.
- Agriculture and construction equipment maker Deere earnings came in at $1.81 versus $1.53 expected. Cisco and Whole Foods also report.
- There is no major economic data being released today. The Treasury will release its monthly budget report at 2 p.m.