investors will start turning their attention away from this week's key economic data. we get a preview with the adp today. and another shot in the arm for china's economic recovery. services sector growth is at a four-month high in december thanks to the boost from construction work. >> announcer: you're watching "worldwide exchange," bringing you business news from around the globe. >> okay. warm welcome to you. it's thursday, july the -- january the 3rd and we'll just recovering a little bit after yesterday's rally. german's december adjusted jobless rate, 6.9% from november's figure. and as forecast. that's where we stand at the moment. after very strong rallies yesterday, dow 2.64%. european markets up 3%. something more of a pause today. let's bring you straight up to how we check in asia. sichuan joins us from singapore. >> thank you, ross. china's latest official services pmi for december came in if a four-month high. this followed news earlier this week that put factory activity at a seven-month high. the construction sector was a key pick up. but transportation

the stock market moved slightly forward with the help of positive economic data. in the eurozone, the recession seems to be reaching a bottom. in the u.s., the job market is recovering. >> let's get a closer look at those numbers for you. we stick in frankfurt where the dax making gains on the day. investors were encouraged by some positive economic data from china, the eurozone, and the united states. euro stoxx 50 also higher. the dow jones industrial average also continuing the positive trend. the euro-dollar also trending positive, trading for $1.3370. >> a lot of optimism, despite all the optimism that seems to be brewing in davos in switzerland. it is a different story in spain, though. things just keep getting worse. unemployment is at its highest level ever recorded. 26% of the work force were registered as out of work in the last quarter of 2012. that's nearly 6 million people. >> the eurozone [applause] fourth largest economy is stuck in recession. the conservative government has pushed ahead with a tough austerity program to lower the country's deficit.

economic data. we'll look at currencies, the dollar is trading tight against the yen. market players are refraining from opening new positions ahead of friday's u.s. key economic data. dollar/yen 91.02-03. the your owe trading slightly higher against the yen. that's on receding worries about the debt situation in europe. euro/yen 123.35-40. >>> british prime minister david cameron says authorities must use every means possible to fight terrorism. cameron traveled to algeria, the site of the hostage crisis earlier this month. he and prime minister abdelmalek sellal announced an agreement to tighten security. >> what i want to do is work with the algerian government and with other governments in the region to make sure that we do everything we can to combat terrorism in a way that is both tough and intelligent and uses everything we have at our disposal, which will make them safer and make us safer, make the world safer. >> the leaders met two weeks after the hostage siege. islamist militants attacked a gas complex in the sahara desert and took dozens captive. 37 foreign

there's nothing real compelling in the market or in the economic data, it looks okay, not blowout economic data. we are waiting on earnings. we got a lot of the bellwether financials this week, some good, some bad. next week is when we start getting them in earnest. they will come fast and furious. take a look at the industrial companies as they start to report, i have a good feeling about the industrials, what they are going to do. we saw ge today. that's the biggest of the industrials. and their earnings were good. that will be a bellwether and set the standard for the rest of the earnings season and what we do for the economy in the next two quarters. liz: and andrew, you could say -- what are you looking at as a trader going into what could be a little bit of a rocky february? we have half of january left or a little under that. what do you think? >> yeah, as we talk about the vix, the vix has not been up one day in all of january, already at january 18th, the vix futures have not been up one day. the market seems like it wants to go higher. i trade a lot with price action and price mo

a great to see there peter so this is a very strong accusation that the president manipulated economic data to win reelection where's the proof. well i mean it would be the first time the government manipulates data but certainly if you look at the weakest quarter of the president's term basically occurring after he was reelected i mean some people might think that's too much a call of a coincidence as specially since you had a big increase i think in government spending in the third quarter that was on wound in the fourth quarter so maybe the government had some leeway in accelerating some of those expenditures to kind of boost the g.d.p. in the third quarter and then we kind of equalized it in the fourth but even if you look at the entire year of two thousand and twelve it's very very weak g.d.p. growth and i actually think talking about manipulation i think the only reason that we had a positive number for g.d.p. in two thousand and twelve is because the government is under reporting inflation i think of the inflation rate accurately reported by government statistics i think the u.s. eco

stocks pushing higher on strong economic data out of the u.s. and from china. the dow, s&p and nasdaq posting gains for the second day in a row, all ten s&p sectors in the green led by financials and energy as ashley just told you. rates meantime, here's a look at the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rising to its highest level in eight weeks. freddie mac reporting 3.4% from 3.34%. the 15-year rate rose to 2.66%. and the number of americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits rising by 4,000 to a total of 371,000. prior week's total was revised lower by 5,,000, splitting hairs quite a bit on the weekly readings, but the bottom line we're still trending toward improvement. ashley: we are hoe humming along. we've got john brady in the pits of the cme, david flyer and jack ablin, chief investment officer of bmo o private bank. let's begin with john at the cme. i guess the story has been china gave the markets a nice boost with much better economic data. has that been the big story? >> it is, it's the number one story. but likewise, too, we saw a tightenin

we have this perception that we need a budget surplus and we need great economic data. well that was wonderful. that's what happened in 2000. we actually are in the sweet spot of the economic data and the deficit because they're all trending better from historically weak levels which means you have better economic activity ahead which means better earnings but you also earn at the point where the fed is going to get involved and start to restrain economic activity forward looking economic activity by cutting back on -- or by tightening up a little bit. >> what happens if they come back on the qe, tony? >> they're going to cut back on the qe. i think this year my target, believe it or not, is more front-end loaded because impea a little bit loaded. based on the trend of the economic data, to me as we get toward the end of the year you'll start getting stronger data and you'll have more fear like we did for a little while yesterday afternoon that the fed will withdraw some of the qe. eventually that's going to happen. what the fed is trying to do is make is so that the ec

pay really close attention to the economic data this week.months before the next debate we can pay attention to fundamentals. trading should be really fun for at least the next few weeks. david: thank you very much. liz: look at these, they got a boost today. the floor of the new york stock exchange. how do you think it is doing? nicole: very interesting. intel will be on one to watch because we're starting to hear headlines something new for intel. up 3.7%. you have the idea here they are working on set-top boxes. moving into a whole other realm it'll be interesting to watch it. this could outshine apple tv. will this be a direct competitor? one that we will continue to watch based on the news we are watching. be developed by intel media. we will learn more and more about this, but something that we want you to watch. something that may be brought up as well. liz: that is exactly what we think will happen. david: that is all apple needs. nicole, thank you. eight new taxes are underway to pay for the new health care law. including a sales tax

. >>> a slew of economic data out this week will help determine whether the s&p stays above the 1,500 milestone for the first time since 2007. >>> later this week, we'll see how many americans landed new jobs last month and whether the unemployment rate dips below the current 7.8%. >>> you may be hearing buzz about new credit card fees at the cash register thanks to a class action settlement between credit card companies and merchants. don't pack panic, experts don't think many retailers plan to impose that charge. >>> at the pump, gas prices have jumped two cents in the last weeks to $3.34 on average for a gallon of regular. >>> also on the rise, a first-class postage stamp up a penny to 46 cents. >>> a study by the fresh produce association of america shows tomatoes could jump from $2.50 a pound to $5 a pound by this spring if a u.s. trade agreement with mix ends. >>> and here is a cause that we can get behind. thousands have already signed a white house petition asking the obama administration to declare each monday after the super bowl an official day off. where do i sign? >>> str

a slew of economic data out this week will all help determine whether the s&p can stay above that 1500 milestone it crossed on friday for the first time since 2007. then later this week we'll see how many americans landed new jobs last month and whether the unemployment rate dips below the current 7.8%. you may be hearing some buzz about new credit card fees at the cash register thanks to a class action settlement. don't panic. experts don't think many retailers plan to impose that is your charge. gas prices have jumped two sent to an average of $3.34 for a gallon of regular. also on the rise price of a first class postage stamp now up a penny to 46 cents pap new study by the fresh produce association of america show tomatoes could jump up to $5 a pound by this spring if the u.s. trade agreement with mexico end. here's a cause we can get behind. thousands have signed a white house petition asking the obama administration to declare each monday after the super bowl an official day off. police are searching for maple tree thieves. and the ice boat regatta. you're watching "early today".

it is actually in a positive trend like most of the economic data. connell: right. so you like the -- there's the u.s. debt to gdp ratio that we're looking at there going back a little longer, but tony likes the near term trend of the way this is going. i think it is interesting the way you started that because in political discussions we always have, hearing a statement like yours, maybe some people raise their eyebrows and say well we're never going to have less debt. what do you mean by that? and what's the context that should be in as we look to these next debt ceiling negotiations and everything else? >> well, if you look at the absolute level of debt, it is up. that hasn't changed. connell: what's our goal? >> the goal is to get below i think bernanke said 3% of gdp or something similar to that level. and again, we're high. we're very high, so i'm not coming across saying gee don't worry about it, everything is great, but that's not the point. the point is it's improving. the reason it improves connell is because tax receipts -- this is very important because

i think unfortunately this is all perceptions with respect to the economic data. instead the leis are continuing to decelerate. some of the leading indicators have done a little bit of better in the december, november, december period versus the prior three months. but on the longer term scale, we see this ongoing desell ration. >> you don't think the monetary policies that are going around the globe are going to help those data points get better? >> doesn't seem that way. we had announcements now, the ecb announcement in the summer months, the fed announcement in september and december. it just resulted in a desell ration. >> i don't think anyone will argue with you that earnings are weaker but maybe they'll get better from here. >> that is certainly the consensus expectation. the consensus expectation implies that the third quarter of 2012 was the trough for earnings at about a 2% to 3% growth rate and just continues to improve through 2013. unfortunately my model suggests instead the trough is sometime in the first half of this year. and that flies in the face

goods report coming out today and other economic data to support the fact that economy is improving and geo-political. they have not gone away. we are continuing to watch what happened in egypt, syria and north korea. so keep your eye on perhaps a hundred dollars a barrel. that's what some traders are saying. back to you. >> sharon, thank you very much. >>> well, it is a big day here on "street signs," because after a long and unexplained absence, herb on the street is officially back and you begin with a big one, my friend. >> that's right. we are talking about herbalife and the entire multilevel marketing industry. they are all under pressure after the federal trade commission and several states alleged that a private kentucky multilevel marketer is one of the most -- has operated one of the most elaborate pyramid schemes? north america. like many multilevel marketers, they sell a number of services. the business model appears to be more about paying money on recruiting rather than selling. rather than selling product. with most of its distributors losing money. when asked at a press

as you can see is going on on some concerns about the upcoming earnings reports and the mixed economic data coming in over in europe it was a mixed bag of the footsie managed to stay above the line as you can see but the dax ended the day almost three quarters of a percent down and here in moscow the bulls ruled the day really both the r.t.s. and the my six closed with gains about a tenth of a percent and about half a percent respectively and last but not least the currencies the euro we can to the dollar and as you're seeing here on the screen the russian ruble closed the mix to the marriage of currencies weaker to the greenback but stronger to the single currency. of russia cyber security company cusp air ski on mondays said it exposed a widespread cyber espionage network it targeted a range of government diplomatic organizations most of them are in eastern europe and central asia but there are some in western europe and north america according to the company the criminal network has been in operation since two thousand and seven over all those been a sharp increase of cyber attacks last

we will be looking at economic data. keep an eye on, you know, any progress on budget talks.out it here. liz: good point. thank you, phil. david: house congressional leaders announcing today that they will vote on a debt ceiling bill next week that will include at least a short-term extension. liz: rich edson live at the house republican annual retreat which is in williamsburg virginia with the very latest. rich? rich: liz and david, a three month extension, that's what they are discussing. this is a result of three day meeting here, the republican retreat in williamsburg virginia. this is the bill that the house will vote on next week, a three month debt ceiling increase and debt ceiling increase is contingent on the house and senate passing a budget. the senate hasn't actually passed a budget in years. the bill also withholds congressional pay without congress passing a budget. the one problem with this for a number of republicans, there really are no other spending cuts in this. remember the boehner rule dubbed the boehner rule says any increase in the debt ceiling must co

. >> if we take the economic data as a basis and we try to predict what could happen in 2013, then we see, on average, are round 2.9 million people will be unemployed. as far as employment is concerned. high numbers are michael -- are likely to remain. >> that is good news for the economy. despite growth grinding to a halt, the german labor market looks to be weathering the storm. >> return to our political correspondent, terry martin. thank you for joining us. there has been a slight spike in employment, something germans need to worry about? what's the latest the statistics offer no reason to be concerned. the jobless number rose less than many had predicted in the overall unemployment rate is hovering below 7%. that is good as far as germany is concerned. compared to many of the german neighbors, that is excellent, but the statistics do not tell the whole picture. many of the jobs that have been created are very poorly paid and virtually no job security. in qualitative terms, everything looks fine. >> how do today's mixed figures tie in with chancellor merkel's new year's speech. s

wednesday's market action now, and european shares dropped later in the session, reaction to weak economic data out of the united states. our correspondents and as the summary from the frankfurt stock exchange. -- our correspondent sent us this summary from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> the people here are convinced that the euro sovereign debt crisis is slowly getting better, that the worst may be over, so the news from spain did not really put a lot of pressure here. one sign that things are relaxing can be seen in the bond market. german bonds were a real safe haven at the worst time in the crisis. now the prices for german bonds are slowly coming back. the interest that germany has to pay is slowly rising, a sign that things are getting a little bit back to normal there. pressure came in the afternoon in the european markets when the united states announced that their economy completely suppressing the contracted in the fourth quarter. >> we stay in frankfurt for a closer look at the numbers from the mid-week session. the dax finished the day down by nearly 0.5%. the euro stoxx 50 down b

also the market in general is up now because of new economic data coming from the u.s. housing data has been better than expected. this gave a boost to shares said that the dax is up by nearly 1%. euro stoxx 50 rising by about 0.75%. there have been some hints that the debt crisis might be solved and that many states are in a pretty good way. >> thanks for that. >> it is election year here in germany. this september, angela merkel will bid for another four years running the country, and this weekend, there's an early test for her coalition. >> ahead of that, merkel and her government have been touting their economic credentials today in parliament. their message -- while growth is slowing this year, germany has weathered the euro crisis pretty well. >> merkel is counting on that message winning the day both this weekend and in september, but the opposition has other ideas. >> with an important state election coming up this weekend in lower saxony, the campaign rhetoric is getting hotter. reporting on the condition of germany's economy, the economics minister was keen to

. >>> a slew of economic data out this week will help determine whether the s&p stays above the 1,500tone for the first time since 2007. >>> later this week, we'll see jobs last month and whether the unemployment rate dips below the current 7.8%. >>> you may be hearing buzz about new credit card fees at the cash register thanks to a class action settlement between credit card companies and merchants. don't pack panic, experts don't think many retailers plan to impose that charge. >>> at the pump, gas prices have jumped two cents in the last weeks to $3.34 on average for a gallon of regular. >>> also on the rise, a first-class postage stamp up a penny to 46 cents. >>> a study by the fresh produce association of america shows tomatoes could jump from $2.50 a pound to $5 a pound by this spring if a u.s. trade agreement with mexico ends. >>> and here is a cause that we can get behind. thousands have already signed a white house petition asking the obama administration to declare each monday after the super bowl an official day off. i think we can all use that. >>> migraine sufferers, list

you do have these bank earnings today, we have consumer sentiment as well, so we do have some economic data. we have a couple more days. but facebook, $30, keep an eye on this one. > and what do you think about the market winners? microsoft, caterpillar, and google surged yesterday. > > what happened is facebook was talking about what they're building, and they're building a search engine, right? that was the big rumor. and the minute they came out and said they are going to have a search engine, but they are going to have a search engine on facebook to try to give users more time to stay on facebook, what happened to google? google was off to the races. it rallied about $12 when facebook came out with disappointing news. facebook sold off, and what was bad for facebook was good for google, so that one rallied. google is another one with earnings within the next week, so i am going to keep an eye on google for earnings. they disappointed majorly last time on earnings, so it should be interesting to see what happens in that. > good to have you on the show. thanks andrew. > > thank you. membe

also the market in general is up now because of new economic data coming from the u.s. housing data has been better than expected. this gave a boost to shares said that the dax is up by nearly 1%. euro stoxx 50 rising by about 0.75%. there have been some hints that the debt crisis might be solved and that many states are in a pretty good way. >> thanks for that. >> it is election year here in germany. this september, angela merkel will bid for another four years running the country, and this weekend, there's an early test for her coalition. >> ahead of that, merkel and her government have been touting their economic credentials today in parliament. their message -- while growth is slowing this year, germany has weathered the euro crisis pretty well. >> merkel is counting on that message winning the day both this weekend and in september, but the opposition has other ideas. >> with an important state election coming up this weekend in lower saxony, the campaign rhetoric is getting hotter. reporting on the condition of germany's economy, the economics minister was keen to

. >> now another thing we're seeing chinese economic data also showing some positive signs. we were reporting just yesterday that the hsbc manufacturing pmi for january rose to its highest level in two years. what do you think we can see now from this trend and can we really expect the chinese economy to continue to recover? >> yeah. quite positive. hsbc pmi rose to 51.9 in january. 24 month high. also increased for the fourth straight month to stay above the line of 50 confirming that the chinese economy is in a sharp turn upfriend. despite external demand the domestic driven restock process and production activities by manufacturers are likely to support china's ongoing recovery in the coming months. their first quarter growth can be up to 8.2%. we expect january official pmi to be released on february 1st to hit 51.3 compared to 50.6 in december last year. stronger domestic demand will continue off setting the sluggish growth. >> all right. that was chief operating officer in hong kong. >>> 2012 certainly proved to be a goodyear for south korea's samsung electronics. both

economic data out today on unemployment filings and new home construction and building permits. plus, earnings from big banks like bank of america and citigroup. watch out for that. in terms of how we ended yesterday, dow falling 23 points in yesterday's trade and nasdaq edging up by six. >>> satellite regulators are issuing new rules to protect homeowners from unexpected fees and poor services by the companies that collect monthly mortgages payments. they will require mortgage services to give clear monthly statements, warn borrowers before hiking interest rates and actively help them avoid foreclosure. under current rules people can lose their homes to foreclosure while trying to negotiate lower payments. that's the latest. back over to you. >> we appreciate it. thank you. >>> let's check back in with christina loren to find out another good day on tap. good news. >> good news. you want to put thought into your wardrobe today. really want to think about it. >> how many layers is always the question. >> you want to do multiple layers and by the way i think i speak on behalf of

a busy week for economic data topped off by friday's big jobs number earlier in the week. earnings from caterpillar and yahoo!. the dow rose 70 points on friday to 13,895 so we're getting close to 14,000. the nasdaq was up 19. all right. here we go. hostess story. they found a new home. "the wall street journal" reports that mckee foods is set toed by 25 million to 30 million for hostess' brand. it is likely the lead bidder at the drake auction. hostess plans to submit the sale agreement today. back to you guys. >> all right. appreciate it. i never have heard of devil dogs. i have to look those up. >> maybe back east a little bit. all right. >>> let's check the forecast now with meteorologist christina loren. >> you can get them at piggly wiggly. we don't have those around here. 4:44. another great staple of the south. 4:44 this morning. it's chilly out there. not as chilly as it is elsewhere across the nation. we're going to see a really comfortable week when you put things into perspective, it could be bitter cold. we would dodge heavy rain showers. not the case. we have

charles: economic data looks really sloppy. silver made a breakout. your point if it does that is a gigantic payouts. lori: do you look at that strategy at all? charles: it is contradictory. it is obvious at least it is not something you can't argue there is no value. some argue what does gold do? lori: pretty flashy jewelry. charles: so there you have it. lori: thank you. melissa: let's check the market, nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. watching refiners. nicole: taking a look at a couple of key names. most of these names came out with their quarterly reports and names. a look at that one hitting 52-week highs, both of these after the earning releases. all of the imports, the gulf coast refineries in favor of u.s. production. the chief executive officers will be looking at california, for example. marathon petroleum the same thing focusing on domestic crude. you can get both of these stocks. i was taking a look at the 52-week highs on both of these. that is a one week chart. up about 92% over the last 52 weeks. quite a r

. >> tom: investors sorting through a slew of economic data today. u.s.industrial production hit its highest point in more than four years in december, while consumer prices, were flat last month, pointing to muted inflation pressures. still, the u.s. major averages ended mixed: the dow off 23 points, pulled lower by weakness in boeing shares, the nasdaq rose six, the s&p up just a fraction. >> susie: and the federal reserve's latest snapshot of the u.s. economy isn't picture perfect, but it is positive. today's beige book report showed signs of solid overall economic growth. each of the fed's 12 districts showed either "moderate" or "modest" growth, steady or expanding real estate activity, and some growth in consumer spending from december through the first week of january. but the fed noted job market conditions didn't change much. one reason companies are cautious about hiring, is they are worried about fiscal uncertainty in the u.s. and that uncertainty is growing as some republicans in washington argue for a narrow definition of what it means for th

the second question is we start to get the economic data. how big of a hit from the tax increaseses, payroll tax holiday, and what do those numbers which may be a bit on the soft side do to stocks? >> absolutely. that is the question of the day, isn't it, jared. the ceiling debate, the u.s. set to hit that $16 trillion limit on borrowing in the next month if we haven't hit it yet. let's take a listen to what president obama had to say about the potential battle looming in congress. >> markets could go haywire, interest rates would spike for anybody who borrows money. every homeowner with a mortgage, every student with a college loan, every small business own whole wants to grow and hire. >> jared, how does this play out? >> well, we're beginning to hear lots of sounds from republicans that we're in a compromising mode than we heard, say, a week ago. right now they're talking about perhaps an increase in the debt ceiling that lasts for a couple of months, that is offering that to the president. frankly, and russ say agree with me here, i don'

we've seen quite a bit of upbeat, positive economic data. last week we saw china release some better than expected gdp numbers so the momentum seems to be behind the bulls right now. which makes me start to get a little nervous. let's talk about the debt ceiling extension as well. does this take anything off the table for the market or is the market over watching what's going on in washington? if you look at what happened with the fiscal cliff, how that was solved within 24 hours to go. a lot of traders and investors anticipate a similar situation with the debt ceiling. whether we get this extension of three months or whether overnight some kind of resolution to it is being done it seems like the general consensus is this thing will be fixed and we will be able to move on and look forward past it. there's a blast of winter rushing through the u.s. this week. what will that mean for natural gas prices? we have seen natural gas prices climb aggressively off their lows. we pushed through 350 last week. we also had a draw down in their storage r

. >>> asian markets plummetled ahead of key economic data.d more than 2.5% while hong kong's hang sang lost a fraction. >>> stocks ended mixed on wall street over the uncertainty of the nation's debt limit. the dow finished the day up more than 27 points while the nasdaq fell nearly 7 points. >>> shoppers spent more this holiday season than last but not as much as experts predicted. sales rose 3%, falling short of the national retail federation's forecast of 4.1%. many stores heavily marked down merchandise in the final shopping days to lure in shoppers who held back on spending. still, retailers hauled $580 million in november and december. >>> walmart says it will buy u.s.-made goods over the next decade. the retail giant is also pledging to offer a job to any honorably discharged american veteran within a year of active duty. walmart expects to hire a thousand veterans in the next five years. >> and victoria's secret showed off its newest editions to its sports collection in new york city. victory's secret models -- there i am. i look good

light week for economic data. earnings season kicks off tomorrow night when aluminum giant alcoa reports. dow rising 43 points on friday to close at 14,345. nasdaq up one closing out at 3101. disney will launch a vacation management system cutting out the need for paper passes, cash or credit cards. the program will allow visitors to pre-select fast passes, rides, parades or other events and pay for food and souvenirs with a tap of the wrist and get personalized interaction with disney characters. guests won't be forced to use the my magic plus bands and can decide how much information they really want to share with disney. more merchandising magic if you will from the magic kingdom. jon? >> more magic for all of us. we look forward to it. thank you very much. we were just discussing which ones we like. >> i like to crank it and really get it going. >> of course you do. >> we want to get you going. fog is not going to help this morning. it's out there this morning. what will help? the cold air. that will wake you

encouraging economic data pushing the s&p 500 up to fresh five year highs. ngteyibuad0 shedy s interest through the mid- afternoon before the gns moderated in the final 90 minutes. still, the 0.6% gain is enough for the index to close at its gheslevel since 2007. volume picked up from yesterday's pace. 708 million shares on the big board. just under 1.8 billion on the nasdaq. the consumer discretionary sector led the way, up 1.1%. the industrial sector gained 1%. and health care up 0.8%. earnings were squarely in focus after the closing bell with intel. the semiconductor giant turngh in better than expected earnings but down from a year ago. intel's biggest business unit by sales, it's p.c. group saw revenues fall 6%. as consumers have shifted buying habits to tablets and smartphones, it has hurt the traditional computer business. before the news, tel stock climbed 2.6% during the regular session. sharoc wese at their highest price since october. it's outlook for sales this year was slightly below what wall street analysts anticipated. shares were down about

encouraging economic data pushing the s&p 500 up to fresh five year highs. the s&p 500 showed steady buying interest through the mid- afternoon before the gains moderated in the final 90 minutes. still, the 0.6% gain is enough for the index to close at its highest level since 2007. volume picked up from yesterday's pace. 708 million shares on the big board. just under 1.8 billion on the nasdaq. the consumer discretionary sector led the way, up 1.1%. the industrial sector gained 1%. and health care up 0.8%. earnings were squarely in focus after the closing bell with intel. the semiconductor giant turned in better than expected earnings but down from a year ago. intel's biggest business unit by sales, it's p.c. group saw revenues fall 6%. as consumers have shifted buying habits to tablets and smartphones, it has hurt the traditional computer business. before the news, intel stock climbed 2.6% during the regular session. shares were at their highest price since october. it's outlook for sales this year was slightly below what wall street analysts anticipated. s

with no news regarding the fiscal cliff, corporate earnings or economic data, the index traded in a 10 point range, with the losses reduced in the final hour of trading, ending down 0.3%. trading volume was 625 million shares on the big board. 1.75 billion on the nasdaq. the utility sector suffered the most selling, down 1.1%, while the telecommunication sector had the best gain, up 0.6%. big banking stocks did not see much movement today despite the mortgage servicing settlement with the federal government, but mortgage servicing stocks were in focus thanks to a bank of america deal. bank of america sold the mortgage servicing rights on $215 billion or home loans to nation-star mortgage. the deal doubles the number of home owners nation-star will work with. shares of nation-star jumped 16.9%. volume was 10 times normal, taking shares to a new high. other companies in the servicing business jumped. walter investment management gained 8.2%. ocwen financial was up 5.4% on heavy volume. both are less than a dollar away from new highs. other stand-outs today ranged from an online super-sto