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 This week kicked off with a bullish economic report. First the scoreboard: Dow: 15,091, -26.8 pts, -0.1%
S&P 500: 1,633, +0.0 pts, +0.0%
NASDAQ: 3,438, +2.2 pts, +0.0% And now the top stories: - Retail sales were surprisingly strong in April, unexpectedly rising by 0.1% despite plunging gas prices. Economists were looking for a 0.3% decline. Excluding autos and gas, sales jumped by 0.6%, beating expectations for a 0.3% gain. This is a very encouraging sign for consumption, which makes up around 70% of the economy.
- "This was a decent start to the quarter for underlying consumer spending," said UBS's Drew Matus. "Headline real spending will probably be held back at the start of the quarter by a drop in utilities—temperatures swung from unseasonably cold in March to more normal in April — but we estimate that the April retail sales data are nonetheless consistent with real consumption beginning the quarter up at a 1.8% annual rate. Energy services consumption is unlikely to be as large a drag late in Q2 as it was in April, and the spending pace will probably pick up over the course of the quarter."
- With stocks at all-time highs, the good news arguably prevented any sort of profit-taking, corrective sell-off. Raymond James' Jeff Saut believes that almost nothing will prevent the S&P 500 from rallying to at least 1,700 by the end of the first quarter.
- According to a new survey of its clients, Bank of America Merrill Lynch reports that 92% of investors are expecting a great summer. Furthermore, no one really seems to be worried about rising interest rates.
- Bill Gross, the bond king at PIMCO, offered his opinion on interest rates via Twitter: "30-year bond bull market over but bear market begins only with consistent 2-3% real and 4-5% nominal GDP growth. Not there yet. Maybe never."
- In a note to clients this morning, Morgan Stanley's Adam Parker warned of earnings expectations that continue to come down. "Negative 2013 guidance has driven analyst estimates lower," said Parker. "Over the past month, analysts have revised down their 2013 S&P 500 estimates 0.3%."
- Jonathan Golub, UBS's top equity strategist, took a more optimistic angle in his note to clients. He believes that operating profit margins will stay high. If anything, he believes they could go much higher. Many experts fear that historically high margins will soon revert to their means, crushing profits and ultimately slamming stocks.
- Don't Miss: 9 More Super-Controversial Math Facts That People Refuse To Believe Are True >
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