Wednesday

Well, after a long holiday, we are finally getting back in to the swing of things! We've spent over a week in bitterly cold temperatures here in Mississippi, and now things are finally starting to thaw out a little. Luckily the stocks haven't been affected by the extreme temperatures like the Jackson water lines have! Stocks enjoyed a broad rally today as an analyst upgrade of Merck spurred the healthcare sector higher, while financials benefited from hopes for high profits. The Federal Reserve's beige book of regional economic indicators suggested modest improvement in the U.S. economy, though activity remains low in historic terms. The dollar weakened versus the euro but gained against the yen. DJIA +53.51 S&P 500 +9.46 NASDAQ +25.59.