STOCKS GO NOWHERE: Here's What You Need To Know

Stocks were little changed after yesterday's rally following the latest Fed meeting.

First, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 16,905.86, 0, (+0%)
• S&P 500: 1,958.06, +1, (+0.06%)
• Nasdaq: 4,356.26, -6.4, (-0.1%)

And now, the top stories of the day:

• The Philadelphia Fed's June business outlook survey came in at 17.8, topping expectations for 14.0. The report also showed that more than 70% of respondents expect the firm's production to increase during the second half of the year. Following the report, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics said the report is, "Yet more evidence that activity is strengthening, with the headline at a nine-month high and new orders at an eight-month high." Shepherdson noted, however, "The bad news is that prices paid jumped 12 points to 35.0, the highest since July '11. Some of this doubtless reflects the increase in oil prices in recent weeks, but that does not make it welcome. Prices received dipped to 14.1 from 17.0 but remain quite elevated and consistent with the message from the NFIB survey and the increase in margins shown in the PPI. So far, not a disaster, but these data need to be watched closely."
• Following the Philly Fed's report, BI's Joe Weisenthal noted that the economy appears set for an acceleration in the second half of the year. "A couple of weeks ago, when we first started getting economic data for the spring, we declared that the moment of truth for the economy was right now," Weisenthal wrote. "You see, the economic data for May was quite solid, but in and of itself, it didn't prove that the economy was reaccelerating. Why? Because May might have just reflected pent-up demand from the weak, cold-weather depressed winter. But now we're getting June numbers, and they remain quite solid. It looks like this is the real deal."
• Weekly jobless claims also came in at 312,000, roughly in-line with the 313,000 that was expected and lower than the revised increase of 318,000 a week ago. Shepherdson said of the jobless claims report that the gentle downward trend is still intact, signaling robust payroll gains.
• In corporate news, BlackBerry shares rallied more than 10% after the troubled handset maker reported better than expected earnings. BlackBerry reported net income of $23 million against a loss of $423 for the prior quarter, and the company's cash and investments balance increased to $3.1 billion at the end of the quarter from $2.7 billion in the prior quarter.
• American Apparel fired its CEO Dov Charney last night, and a report from The Wall Street Journal said the company fired Charney because of, "concerns about his trustworthiness." American Apparel's directors questioned Charney for 10 hours yesterday, and shortly thereafter voted to oust him. BI's Ashley Lutz noted, however, that the company is now in an awkward situation, as Charney was not just the company's CEO but is also its largest shareholder, owning more than a quarter of the company. Shares of the retailer opened sharply higher before closing up 7.5%.
• A report from Reuters said that Apple will introduce a smartwatch this fall that will measure 2.5 inches diagonally, with the company expecting to ship 50 million units within the first year of the product's release.

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