Oh wow was it hard to get up this morning, being front and center to witness a terrific comeback took a lot out of me! A Patriots win on Monday Night Football, and now profits on the street…nothing better. Can I get any Super Bowl predictions?

Wall Street started the trading day to the downside, with the blue chips eventually falling over 100 points during the session. However, traders put new money to work on the one year anniversary of the fall of Lehman. Led by industrial and utility stocks, the Dow Jones Industrial average rose 21.39, or 0.2 %, to 9,626.80. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 6.61, or 0.6 %, to 1,049.34, an 11-month high, while the Nasdaq composite index advanced 10.88, or 0.5 %, to 2,091.78.

Morning Outlook

Asian markets were mixed overnight, stabilizing after the initial fears of a U.S.-China trade war. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average closed the day up 15.56 points, or 0.2 %, at 10,217.62, while Shanghai’s benchmark gained 0.2 % at 3,033.73. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.3 % at 20,866.37.

Wall Street will get an abundance of economic data today to steer market sentiment. Traders will be expecting a good retail sales number, signaling some willingness by the consumer to spend. Before the release of the first batch, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 3, or less than 0.1 %, to 9,608. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 1.10, or 0.1 %, to 1,042.20, while Nasdaq 100 index futures declined 7.75, or 0.5 %, to 1,680.27.

Economic Calendar

8:30 AM
Producer Price Index: The PPI is a measure of the average price level for a fixed basket of capital and consumer goods received by producers. This is a great indicator of the future CPI as producers will eventually pass the costs onto the consumer. The consensus for the month of August was for an increase of 0.8%, with a 0.1% increase excluding food and energy. Headline PPI tumbled 0.9% in July on lower energy and food costs.

8:30 AM
Retail Sales: measure the total receipts at stores that sell durable and nondurable goods. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of GDP and is therefore a key element in economic growth. The consensus is for a 2% increase in the month of August led by higher prices at the pump and auto sales thanks to the government cash for clunkers program. That figure is up from the 10 basis point decline in July. The consensus range falls as low as 0.8% and upwards of 2.9%.

10:00 AM
Business Inventories: The dollar amount of inventories held by manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. The consensus is for a drop in July of 0.9% as businesses cut stockpiles to record lows. In June, inventories fell by 1.1%, while wholesale inventories dropped 1.4 % in the month.