Stocks Pull Back, But Stimulus In Focus  Image: Bigstock Stocks closed lower yesterday, but remain near their all-time highs. The push for more stimulus continues. And the deadline for mid-March (or sooner) is still in play, especially since extended federal unemployment benefits will begin to expire on March 14th, which is just 4 weeks away. So there's little time to waste. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, yesterday, backed calls for a "big package," saying that "I think the price of doing too little is much higher than the price of doing something big. We think the benefits will far outweigh the costs in the longer run." In other news, Weekly Jobless Claims rose more than expected with an increase of 13,000 new claims at 861K vs. expectations for a decline of -80,000 at 768K. Housing Starts and Permits came in mixed with Starts at 1.580M vs. the consensus for 1.655M, while Permits came in at 1.881M vs. views for 1.670M. But the larger than expected Permits number bodes well for a robust Starts number to come. And the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index beat expectations with a print of 23.1 vs. views for 20.0. On deck for today we've got the PMI Composite Flash report, Existing Home Sales, and E-Commerce Retail Sales. And, of course, more earnings with another 128 companies reporting today. Best,  Kevin Matras
Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research | 
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