Good morning-

This is Mark Vickery, subbing for Sheraz Mian while he is away.
 
Plenty of economic numbers have been released this morning. First, housing starts — where some people feel is the very heart of the recessionary period — were up to 596,000. This is better than the 540,000 expected and the 529,000 in December.

On the other hand, building permits — the best indicator for future housing starts — are down to 562,000. This misses expectations of 580,000, and definitely down from the 635,000 in December.

Also, the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose to 0.8%, higher than the expected 0.7% but lower than December’s 1.1%. What had been expected was that higher food and energy prices would be the culprits, but even with those stripped out the figure was 0.5%. This was much higher than the 0.2% which was the same figure as in December.

Thus the concerns about inflation creeping into the economy may begin in earnest. While higher crude and intermediate prices on goods would have pointed to pricing pressures down the road, most of those were expected to have been from higher food and energy commodities. Now that the new numbers indicate pricing is increasing over wider terrain, perhaps those who had been warning about higher inflation previously have a firmer leg to stand on.

Elsewhere, Dell Inc. made a huge impression on the after-market Tuesday (and pre-market Wednesday) after more than doubling fiscal 4th quarter earnings. Since the closing bell yesterday, DELL shares are up over 7%. However, quarterly revenues missed Zacks estimates — not by a lot, but they did miss — so we shall see if the exuberance for Dell stock continues Wednesday.

Deere & Co. also impressed the market before the bell today, doubling profits while raising guidance for fiscal 2011. This has helped DE shares gain over 3.7% before the bell today. Comcast posted a 7% increase in revenues for the 4th quarter this morning, and the company also upped its dividend 19%. Shares of CMCSA in the pre-market are up 3.3%.

Futures are up overall this morning. The Bulls have some fuel to stoke their fire.

Mark Vickery

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