The Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ and S&P are all higher today in fresh record territory on a strong start to earnings season. Out of the S&P 500 companies that have reported as of last Friday, 69% have outpaced earnings-per-share estimates. The Dow is trading at 26,000 for the first time ever, moving from 25,000 to 26,000 in its fastest 1,000-point increase ever.

The cost for college tuition has been on the rise and as it creeps higher, the amount of student loan debt has ballooned. The student loan debt of college students has increased by nearly $1 trillion over the last dozen years. Outstanding student loan debt was $380 billion as of 9/30/05, climbing by $980 billion to $1.36 trillion as of 9/30/17, an increase of +11.2% per year.

Manufacturing activity in the New York State region continued at a solid pace in January according to companies responding to the January 2018 Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The index came in at 17.7, below the 19 recorded in December with 32% of the respondents reporting that conditions had improved over the month, while 15% reported that conditions had worsened. Looking ahead, companies remained optimistic about the six-month outlook.