Tuesday Afternoon Cheat Sheet: 3 Stories That Moved Markets

The U.S. equity markets woke up refreshed from the President’s Day break and logged fresh intraday five-year highs on Tuesday.

At the close: DJIA: +0.39%, S&P 500: +0.70%, NASDAQ: +0.68%.

Here are three stories that moved markets on Tuesday:

1) Famed budget negotiators and deficit hawks Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles have assembled yet another budget proposal. Their proposal, issued ahead of the March 1 sequestration deadline, would cut $2.4 trillion from the deficit over 10 years through a combination of spending cuts, tax reform, and an overhaul to healthcare spending. Half of the savings would come from lowering caps on discretionary spending, while one quarter would come from cuts to healthcare, and the remainder would come from closing loopholes.

“Our plan is not perfect, but it can serve we believe as a mark for a bipartisan deal,” Bowles told reporters on Tuesday morning. For their part, members of the GOP don’t want any more revenue increases on the table, while President Barack Obama has made it clear that he wants to continue closing tax loopholes… (Read more.)