US equities turned higher today on weak economic data

US equities turned higher today on weak economic data. It seems odd to say weak data is leading to stock market gains, but that's currently the world we're investing in. You see, weak economic data means the Fed will keep its bond purchase program going full steam - and massive bond buying has been very good for assets. Regarding the economic data, both retail sales and consumer confidence came in worse than expected. However, in both cases the results aren't as bad as they seem. Retail sales dropped 0.1% last month, although the decline was almost entirely influenced by a 2.2% drop in automobile sales. In addition, consumer confidence plummeted from 80.2 to 71.2 - the biggest drop since August of 2011. Nevertheless, the steep drop was essentially a foregone conclusion after the government antics witnessed during the measurement period.