The S&P and NASDAQ continue their climb touching new all-time highs today on an intraday basis. The August doldrums continue without a catalyst in sight but the bias is still to the upside. It’s been a slow and steady climb today across the board with healthcare leading the way. Oil is hanging in there over $43, fractionally higher, providing about the only driver for the session. Across the board sentiment is mildly positive. Market internals remain solid with S&P advancers (59%) working on good up volume (61%). The $VIX is at a 52-week low which just about says it all.

On the economic front, revised wholesale inventories for June was 0.3% from the initial estimate of no change, and May was revised to 0.2% from 0.1%.  So perhaps, inventories aren’t weighing as much on second quarter growth. Inventories for items such as autos and machinery, fell 0.3% and non-durable goods increased 1.1%.  The inventory to sales ratio in June declined to 1.33 from 1.35 in May.

The Index of Small business Optimism continues to climb higher according to the latest from the NFIB. While July increased 0.1 points to 94.6, it’s still significantly lower than the 40 year average of 98. Of the 10 Index components, 4 gained, 4 declined and 2 had no change. The outlook for business conditions was unchanged this month, and while it increased 16% points since January, it is still negative with only 8% considering the current period good for business expansion.