Stocks Start Moderately Higher

U.S. stocks gained moderately at the open on Friday, as investors continued to find encouragement
from Janet Yellen’s support for the Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program. The market also
absorbed some softer-than-expected economic data, such as a weaker-than-anticipated reading on New
York state manufacturing, a dip in industrial production and a bigger-than-expected drop in import
prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 24.92 points, or 0.16%, to 15,901.14. The S&P 500 was last up 2.39 points, or 0.13%, to 1,793.01. The Nasdaq Composite gained 2.42 points, or 0.06%, to 3,975.16.

There are no asset bubbles – not in equity markets, not in the housing market. That’s according to
Federal Reserve chair nominee Janet Yellen, who was asked about bubbles in her confirmation
hearing before the Senate Banking Committee Thursday.

New York state’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly shrank this month, but business optimism
remained relatively resilient, a report from the New York Federal Reserve showed on Friday. The
New York Fed’s “Empire State” general business conditions index contracted to minus 2.21 from
1.52 in October.

Factory production in the U.S. rose more than forecast in October. The 0.3 percent advance at
factories followed a 0.1 percent gain the prior month and exceeded the 0.2 percent median
projection in a Bloomberg survey, figures from the Federal Reserve showed today in Washington.

The prices paid for imported goods fell 0.7% in October, largely because of lower fuel prices, the
U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc.(JOSB) terminated its unsolicited $2.3 billion takeover offer for rival
men’s clothing retailer Men’s Wearhouse Inc. MW -0.24% , though left the door open for the
potential of future acquisition talks.

US Treasury prices dipped Friday as traders took profit on a rally in the previous session. Yields
on the benchmark 10-year Treasury rose sightly to 2.73 percent after finishing Thursday’s session
at 2.702 percent.