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First, the scoreboard:
- Dow: 15,772.5 (+33.1, +0.2%)
- S&P 500: 1,777.3 (+1.8, +0.1%)
- Nasdaq: 4,003.8 (+5.5, +0.1%)
And now the top stories:
- The only notable economic data point worth noting was the producer price index. In November, producer prices fell 0.1%. This was the third straight month of negative headline PPI numbers. Excluding food and energy, prices climbed by 0.1%.
- "Deflation is not a concern here and should not be as GDP is growing fast enough to bring down the unemployment rate at a normal pace," said Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi's Chris Rupkey. "[B]ut there is no inflation here either. No sign inflation is moving up to the Fed's 2% target. They wouldn't use this as the latest excuse not to taper would they? Let's see what the CPI report says on Tuesday."
- JP Morgan bull Tom Lee unveiled his 2014 target for the S&P 500 and it was bullish. He sees the index surging to 2,075, which implies a 17% return from current levels. "The bull market, which began in March 2009, is acting like a "classic" secular bull market," he wrote. "History says we could see a 20% gain in 2014."
- Bond fund behemoth PIMCO recently unveiled its new global economic outlook. "Many of the challenges faced during 2013 have either progressed toward a point of self-exhaustion or are being overcome via alternatives to yield a brighter outlook for global growth in 2014," said PIMCO's Saumil Parikh. "PIMCO expects the global economy to grow between 2.5%-3% next year."
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