The final read for consumer sentiment for March was a lofty 101.4, the highest level since January of 2004. 

• Current Economic Conditions Index 121.2, highest ever
• Index of Consumer Expectations 88.8 down from 90 in February

Expectations are the red flag; coupled with folks saving more could point to anxiety that I think has more to do with headlines and politics than economics and policy.  That should change as more achievements are made, including possible trade adjustments with China and NAFTA. 

Chicago PMI was a disappointment as it declined from 65.7 in January to 61.9 in February and is the lowest since August 2017. The bright spot however, is it’s 8% higher than the prior year period and above the strong 2017 average of 60.8.  A read above 50 indicates expansion.  The cost of input materials is a concern to many companies and they warn that higher cost will need to be passed on to customers if prices don’t wane.

• The New Orders Index declined from 66.4 to 62.9
• The Production index decreased from 73.4 to 67.9
• The Employment Index dipped from 60.7 to 56.1
• The Prices Paid Index down from 72.1 to 65.0

This morning’s tweet from the president, "I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election. Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!" sent shares of AMZN lower by $66.22 points

However, as cooler heads prevail, and people realize that AMZN is already collecting and paying state taxes and that fundamentals are what matter, the stock reversed and is now down $18. Furthermore, starting Saturday, AMZN will begin collecting taxes on the last 4 states, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine and New Mexico, where it was not already collecting.  Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon have no sales tax, and Alaska has state but not municipal sales tax.

This is the last trading day of week, month and the quarter, and so far, all the major indices are in the green, up about 1%.  Advancers are blowing away decliners 2338/549 on the NYSE, while on the Nasdaq advancers outpace decliners 1657/739.

There will be no reports tomorrow as the market is closed.  Happy Passover, Good Friday and Easter.