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Joseph Lazzaro

Joseph Lazzaro

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The U.S. manufacturing sector is a sight for sore eyes: After more than a year of expansion, it's still growing, as American factories continue to churn out the equipment, machines and products that emerging-market nations need to develop their infrastructures.
And that means it may be time for owners of gas-thirsty SUVs and cars to start considering the switch so many Americans are loath to make: to a far more fuel-efficient vehicle. Looking out over the next several years, it's hard to see oil -- and gasoline -- falling back to earlier lows.
Right now, everything is coming up roses for the Republican Party: It's won the first round of the budget battle, and if the GOP%u2019s momentum continues, the new federal budget will reflect its spending-reduction priorities, not the Democrats'. Even so, if the two parties can agree on a budget, the greater danger, a potentially market-impacting government shutdown, will have been averted.
Private employers added a much-better-than-expected 217,000 jobs in February, ADP has reported. That's the fifth straight month of job gains in the private sector -- another sign that the U.S. labor market continues to slowly heal.
The latest reports on home sales and prices offer a complicated and conflicted picture. But when the data are taken together, one thing is clear: Weighing risk and reward, it's worth waiting a few months to see which way the real estate winds are really blowing.
The markets may have had a rough weak as U.S. GDP growth was revised down and Middle East unrest caused oil prices to rise, but the consumer sentiment index rose to its highest level since January 2008. Sentiment has risen for about six months -- an encouraging sign -- but oil prices could sour the mood.
Events in the Mideast have, once again, revealed the U.S. economy's vulnerability to an oil shock. Now more than ever, the nation must reduce its consumption of oil, especially from abroad, and become energy self-sufficient. And the way to do it is with our abundant domestic sources of natural gas.
The consumer confidence index surged another 5.6 points to 70.4 in February - its highest level in three years - as Americans continued to express confidence that the economy will improve in the months ahead, the Conference Board said.
Inflation has inched higher in the past six months, but that's not a danger sign, but rather a harbinger of improving economic conditions and a strengthening recovery. And that, in turn, should lead to higher wages and more hiring in the year ahead.
Despite all the headwinds blowing against it -- and they're fierce -- the U.S. dollar has been holding its own against the world's major currencies. And if the U.S. recovery remains on track, the greenback has good odds of actually strengthening in 2011.

Market Movers

SymbolLastChange / %Volume

Most Actives

BAC
Bank of America Corp
8.04-0.15
-1.77%
205.62M
ALU
Alcatel-Lucent (ADR)
2.21+0.27
+13.66%
109.96M
F
Ford
12.40-0.29
-2.29%
37.34M
GE
General Electric Company
18.82-0.32
-1.65%
35.10M

% Gainers

CIE
Cobalt International Energy
31.12 +7.22
+30.21%
16.13M
LNKD
LinkedIn Corp.
89.40 +13.01
+17.03%
10.66M
ALU
Alcatel-Lucent (ADR)
2.21 +0.27
+13.66%
109.96M
WNS
WNS (Holdings) Limited (ADR)
10.52 +1.12
+11.91%
2.81M

% Losers

NBG-A
National Bank of Greece SA (ADR)
5.73-1.02
-15.11%
167,755
OSG
Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc.
10.22-1.61
-13.61%
1.55M
OC-B
Owens Corning (Warrant) 'B'
2.34-0.31
-11.62%
25,036
YGE
Yingli Green Energy Hold. Co. Ltd. (ADR)
5.22-0.68
-11.53%
9.47M
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