In February, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2% seasonally adjusted (SA); rising 2.2% over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted (NSA), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2% in February, SA; up 1.8% over the year, NSA.

Real average hourly earnings were unchanged in February, SA. Average hourly earnings increased 0.1%, and CPI-U increased 0.2%. Real average weekly earnings increased 0.3% over the month.

Tuesday, the Dow lost 171.58 points (0.68%) to finish at 25,007.03, the NASDAQ closed 77.31 points (1.02%) lower at 7,511.01, and the S&P 500 decreased 17.71 points (0.64%) to 2,765.31. The Russell 2000 was down 9.00 points (0.56%) at 1,592.05, and the Wilshire 5000 fell 183.50 points (0.64%) to 28,680.12.

The price of the 10-year Treasury note was up 6/32, decreasing its yield to 2.846%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond increased 16/32, bringing its yield down to 3.101%.

ON THIS DATE: In 1629, a Royal charter was granted to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1794, Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin. In 1891, the submarine Monarch laid telephone cable along the bottom of the English Channel to prepare for the first telephone links across the Channel. In 1900, U.S. currency went on the gold standard with the ratification of the Gold Standard Act. In 1914, Henry Ford announced the new continuous motion method to assemble cars. The process decreased the time to make a car from 12½ hours to 93 minutes. In 1951, U.N. forces recaptured Seoul for the second time during the Korean War. In 1964, a Dallas jury found Jack Ruby guilty of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. In 1967, John F. Kennedy’s body was moved from a temporary grave to a permanent one. In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton committed $100 million for an anti-terrorism pact with Israel to track down and root out Islamic militants. In 2003, Robert Blake was released from jail on $1.5 million bail. Blake had been jailed for the murder of his wife Bonny Lee Bakley.

WEDNESDAY WISDOM: “You know how advice is. You only want it if it agrees with what you wanted to do anyway.”—John Steinbeck, author