After a week wrought with earnings and economic volatility, the markets are setting up to close out this week with much of the same. This morning, one of the most talked about items of the day was the initial public offering (IPO) of Shake Shack (SHAK) which opened trading $21 above its initial price of $26 last night – meaning that many investors saw the stock as a valuable asset from the get-go. Additionally, the markets continue to be melancholic after the advance estimate for fourth quarter GDP growth disappointed with a 2.6%t figure versus analysts' estimate of 3.2% and following 5.0% recorded for the third quarter. In contrast to this were several positive data reports; however none have been able to bring the major equity indices out of the red.

Firstly, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) – Chicago published their January reading of the region’s purchasing managers index (PMI). Growth in the Chicago region is quite strong and picking up steam, as the PMI index rose to 59.4 in January from a revised 58.8 in December. New orders and production growth both turned higher for the month, while businesses in the Chicago area picked up the pace of hiring to the highest level since November 2013. Price data shows the lowest level of pressure in 4.5 years. We note that this PMI read covers both manufacturing and non-manufacturing activity, and tends to post results, much more positive than the national data.

The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index held onto the strong surge recorded at the beginning of the month, ending the month of January with a reading of 98.1, which was slightly lower than the mid-month reading of 98.2, but much stronger than the December reading of 93.6. The current conditions component expanded its gain from earlier in the month to a final reading of 109.3 which is higher than the 108.3 mid-month reading and the 104.8 recorded in December. Ultimately, this comparison shows a strong surge in consumer activity in January over December. Looking longer-term, the expectations component ends January with a reading of 91.0 which is slightly lower than the preliminary reading of 91.6, but much stronger than the 86.4 in December. Once again, sentiment may be stronger now, but until it translates into a pickup in spending the economic recovery will remain a pipedream.

Lastly, employee compensation costs held at a high rate in Q4-2014, increasing quarter-over-quarter by 0.6%, but slightly down from 0.7% in the prior two quarters. On a year-over-year basis, Q4 remained unchanged from the prior quarter at +2.2%. Pressure has been evenly split among components, with wages & salaries up 0.5% and benefits up 0.6%. Year-on-year, however, benefits are higher at +2.6%, which matches second-quarter last year as a recent high, versus +2.1% for wages & salaries.