STOCKS CLIMB TO A RECORD HIGH: Here's what you need to know

Joe Ciolli

Stocks climbed above 2,500 for the first time, boosted by technology and a weaker dollar after August retail sales unexpectedly fell.

The S&P 500 increased 0.2%. Meanwhile, both the Dow and the more tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.3%.

First up, the scoreboard:

1. An investing legend who's nailed the bull market at every turn sees no end in sight for the 269% rally. Laszlo Birinyi doesn't put any stock in bearish arguments, and thinks that the S&P 500 will continue higher for the foreseeable future.

2. The stock market's safety net is disappearing - and it has its own success to blame. Money spent by corporations on share buybacks has declined in each of the last two quarters as valuations have surged.

3. Bitcoin's wild volatility continues with $500 swing. The cryptocurrency has seen large price swings since a handful of notable market experts discredited it.

4. Deutsche Bank says that the dollar and euro are all about politics. An asset management team says that instead of reacting to economic developments, the greenback and its European counterpart have swung more on political occurrences in the US and France.

5. Markets shrugged off North Korea's latest missile launch. The Japanese yen and gold, two traditional safe haven assets, failed to climb on the news.

ADDITIONALLY: