Stocks Are Higher And Oil Is Sinking

The Dow is up 40 points, the S&P 500 is up 9 points, and the Nasdaq is up 25 points.

At current levels, the Dow is about 15 points away from a new all-time high, while the S&P 500 is at record levels, cracking 2,050 for the first time on Tuesday.

Oil, meanwhile, is sliding again, with West Texas Intermediate crude down more than 1.5% to around $74.50.

On the economic data front, we got both housing and inflation data this morning that beat expectations.

The latest homebuilder sentiment report from the National Association of Home Builders came in better than expected, at 58 up from 54 last month, and just one point below September's 59 post-recession high.

Producer prices rose 0.2% in October and 0.4% when excluding food and energy, though as Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macro noted, the drop in oil prices shows up as a benefit to producers before it benefits consumers.

Meanwhile in the markets, inflation expectations have tumbled, falling back to levels seen during the market selloff in October and to levels that had some wondering if the Fed should halt the end of its QE program.

In stock news, analysts keep raising their price target on Apple, with BTIG's Walter Piecyk taking his target to $135 from $128, basing this mostly on the "selfie craze" and the improved camera functions for iPhone 6.

Home Depot reported earnings before the opening bell that beat expectations, though shares of the home improvement retailer were down about 2% in afternoon trade.

Shares of Urban Outfitters were down about 9% near noon, and as Business Insider's Ashley Lutz reports, the company's CEO identified the brand's biggest problem on its conference call last night: its stores.

And now that we are few days removed from Japan's report that it has fallen into recession, Business Insider's Mike Bird has taken a look at the "Abenomics" monetary experiment being undertaken in Japan. His conclusion? The West can only dream of this "failure."