US STOCKS rise despite bad economic data

A bad batch of economic data and lackluster earnings didn't keep investors from buying stocks Thursday.

The Dow, S&P 500 were both up about 0.2%. The Nasdaq also managed to advance modestly, putting it on track for a sixth day of gains.

The Commerce Department on Thursday said retail sales saw a seasonally-adjusted drop of 0.4% in January. Economists had forecast retail sales to fall 0.1% overall.

Weekly jobless claims rose by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 339,000, compared with the total claims of 330,000 expected by analysts.

Goldman Sachs has lowered its first quarter US GDP estimate to 1.9% from 2.3%. Economists at the firm also see Q4 2013 GDP revised down to 2.4% compared to 3.2% reported on January 30. Both come after the disappointing US retail sales data today. From Goldman: The January retail sales report was a significant disappointment, compounded by negative back revisions. Adverse weather was likely a substantial contributor to the weaker January figures.

And corporate earnings weren't particularly good either. Shares of Dow component Cisco (CSCO, Fortune 500) fell 3.59% after the company's weak revenue guidance disappointed investors. Despite reporting lower revenue and earnings, Cisco raised its dividend.

But cable stocks were moving dramatically after Comcast (CCV) announced plans to acquire Time Warner Cable (TWC, Fortune 500) in a $45 billion deal that would combine the two biggest cable companies in the United States. Time Warner Cable shares jumped on the news, while Comcast fell. 

Shares of Charter Communications (CHTR, Fortune 500), a smaller cable company that had hoped to acquire Time Warner Cable, plunged 6.15%. 

Shares of Cablevision Systems (CVC, Fortune 500), which some feel could be the next cable company to be taken over, were 2.49% down after opening sharply higher.

Electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. touched an intraday record of $202.40 a share on Thursday as expecations for a banner quarter heat up. Shares closed at a record of $196.62 on Tuesday. Tesla is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday. Analysts expect the car maker to report fourth-quarter earnings of 19 cents a share on $646 million in sales. That would compare with a loss of 65 cents on $306 million in sales a year ago. Tesla shares have gained 425% in the past 12 months, and 46% in the past three months.

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