Stocks Close Higher By a Hair

...and all this, despite weaker data today! Just bubbly!

So despite the quadruple whammy today of bad economic news (housing starts DOWN, claims for new unemployment benefits UP, Caterpillar sales collapse, Philly Fed survey DOWN), Wall St traders want us to believe that stocks are worth MORE today than yesterday. They want us to believe that we are more prosperous than ever before in history! Are we living in an alternate universe now? Because I sure don't see it!