NEW YORK — The Nasdaq closed above 5,000 for the first time Monday since the year 2000 dot.com bubble, as tech stocks were boosted by deals. The S&P 500 and Dow indexes, meanwhile, hit records after economic data pointed to a slowly accelerating economy.
After oscillating around it for much of the day, the Nasdaq composite index gained steam in the late afternoon to finish firmly above the milestone it last reached on March 27 2000, marking only the third time the index closed above 5,000.
“You’ve an entirely different make-up of stocks. Real earnings and revenue are driving the Nasdaq now,” said Douglas Depietro, managing director at Evercore ISI in New York. “Anything with a website went to $100 back then.”
Tech Rally
The Nasdaq was boosted Monday by chipmakers NXP Semiconductors, Intel (INTC), as well as network equipment-maker Cisco Systems after two big deal announcements.
Shares of NXP (NXPI) rose 17.3 percent to $99.56 after it agreed to buy smaller peer Freescale Semiconductor (FSL) to create a company valued over $40 billion. Freescale rose 11.8 percent to $40.36.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) said it would buy Wi-Fi gear maker Aruba Networks (ARUN) for about $2.7 billion, the biggest deal for the world’s No. 2 PC-maker since 2011. Rival Cisco (CSCO) rose 2.3 percent to $30.19.
“Going forward for the rest of the week, you may see a little pause because people are waiting for the economic data release Friday, because that may give an indication what the Fed’s going to do about interest rates,” said Depietro.
Weighing the Economic Data
U.S. consumer spending fell for a second month in January, with lower gasoline prices dampening inflation pressure while personal income fell just short of expectations, showing a rise of 0.3 percent.
Separate gauges of manufacturing conflicted, as financial data firm Markit’s final U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index hit a four-month high while a reading from the Institute for Supply Management fell to its lowest in 13 months.
Money is continuing to pour into the market because of low interest rates, and although stocks are somewhat expensive they’re not overly expensive.
The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) rose 155.93 points, or 0.86 percent, to 18,288.63, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (^GSPC) gained 12.89 points, or 0.61 percent, to 2,117.39 and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) added 44.57 points, or 0.9 percent, to 5,008.10.
‘Not Overly Expensive’
“Money is continuing to pour into the market because of low interest rates, and although stocks are somewhat expensive they’re not overly expensive,” said Stephen Massocca, chief investment officer at Wedbush Equity Management in San Francisco.
Lumber Liquidators (LL) plunged 25 percent to $38.83 after a news report said its products failed to meet safety standards, allegations the hardwood flooring retailer denied.
About 6.43 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, compared with the 6.3 billion average for the last five sessions, according to BATS Global Markets.
NYSE advancers outnumbered decliners 1,851 to 1,214, for a 1.52-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,792 issues rose and 960 fell, for a 1.87-to-1 ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 57 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows; the Nasdaq composite recorded 144 new highs and 32 new lows.
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What to watch Tuesday:
Automakers release vehicle sales for February.
Earnings Season
These selected companies are scheduled to release quarterly financial results:
AutoZone (AZO)
Barclays (BCS)
Best Buy (BBY)
Bob Evans Farms (BOBE)
Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS)
JD.com (JD)
Kate Spade (KATE)
Navistar International (NAV)
Tri Pointe Homes (TPH)
TiVo (TIVO)
I understand that you don’t want to contribute to landfills. But here’s an example where spending more money, rather than less, is a good idea.
Instead of washing and re-using plastic baggies, a more reasonable idea is to spend a little extra money to purchase reusable containers to store your snacks and leftovers.
Plastic baggies are worth just a few cents apiece. The time and water you waste washing and drying them makes the "return on investment" negative.
1. You rewash your plastic bags
Do you hoard tiny ketchup packets to bring home and squeeze into your bigger ketchup bottle? If so, you get points for creativity, but not many for frugality.
You’re not only wasting time and effort, you’re also (arguably) stealing from the restaurant owner. Bite the bullet and just buy a new bottle of ketchup.
2. You steal restaurant condiment packets
Don’t. It’s not worth it for so many reasons.
3. You separate two-ply toilet paper to get twice the use out of it
Each time you re-brew the same grounds, the resulting coffee is weaker, so you’re likely to drink twice as much to get the same buzz. And the resulting pots taste kind of nasty. Focus instead on stocking up on whole-bean coffee when it’s on sale, or better yet, slowly breaking yourself from your caffeine addiction.
4. You reuse coffee grounds
If you don’t know what this means, then you’re not doing it — and good for you, because this require loads of effort for a mediocre result. You’ll save, at most, about $1 by deferring the purchase of your next bar of soap.
5. You save leftover soap scraps to create a conglomerate soap ball
This happened once on the show "Extreme Cheapskates," and the recipient of these featured anniversary "gifts" was not pleased. Show your loved ones you really do love them, and don’t do anything that can be described by the phrase: "As seen on ‘Extreme Cheapskates.’"
6. You buy anniversary gifts at the thrift store
Unless you’re a starving college student (and even then, it’s iffy), you’ll be digging through a literal lot of trash to find a debatable amount of treasure. Stick to curb-browsing for big items on garbage pickup day — such as wooden furniture or fake Christmas trees — and stop literally foraging through trashcans for food.
7. You dumpster dive
Unless your dishwasher, washing machine and kitchen sink are simultaneously broken, there’s no reason to be washing anything in the shower other than your actual self.
You may think you’re saving money by washing your clothes in the shower, but in reality, you’re actually just running the water twice as long (and repeating this for each outfit you wash). It may be more cost-effective –- and it’s certainly more time-effective –- to clean an entire week’s worth of clothes in one run through the washing machine.
8. You wash your clothes while you shower
We’re not talking about stealing a bite from your spouse’s entrée; we’re talking about walking over to recently abandoned tables in restaurants and finishing the plates of total strangers. (This one is another gem from "Extreme Cheapskates.")
This behavior could potentially get you kicked out of a restaurant, which would humiliate your friends and family (and potentially embarrass you). Here’s a tip: If money is so tight that you need to swipe food from other people’s plates, avoid restaurants and cook at home, instead.
9. You eat food off other people's plates
This item on this list might have the greatest chance of feeling familiar.
Hitting up a couple stores to snag sale is fine. But if you’re wasting a tank of gas and the better part of an afternoon driving all around town for one item here, one item there, you’re wasting both fuel and time that could be spent on more profitable endeavors.
Rather than buying bananas at one store, milk at another and cereal at a third store –- and then repeating this cycle with socks, makeup, cat food, cotton balls and everything else –- buy everything from one or two stores, and use the spare time to work extra hours, start a side business, organize your files, or otherwise achieve something that’s a bit more productive.
10. You spend hours driving around for the best deals
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