New orders for manufactured durable goods in January decreased $9.2 billion or 3.7% to $239.7 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced. This decrease, down following two consecutive monthly increases, followed a 2.6% December increase. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.3%. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 2.7%. Transportation equipment, also down following two consecutive monthly increases, led the decrease, $8.6 billion or 10.0% to $77.7 billion.

Tuesday, the Dow increased 9.36 points (0.04%) to 24,884.12, the NASDAQ gained 41.30 points (0.56%) to finish at 7,372.01, and the S&P 500 was up 7.18 points (0.26%) at 2,728.12. The Russell 2000 closed 16.16 points (1.04%) higher at 1,562.20, and the Wilshire 5000 climbed 100.92 points (0.36%) to 28,284.61.

The price of the 10-year Treasury note was up 1/32, decreasing its yield to 2.880%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond increased 4/32, bringing its yield down to 3.149%.

ON THIS DATE: In 322 BC, Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, died. In 1774, the British closed the port of Boston to all commerce. In 1854, Charles Miller received a patent for the sewing machine. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a patent (U.S. Patent No. 174,465) for his telephone. In 1911, Willis Farnworth patented the coin-operated locker. In 1911, in the wake of the Mexican Revolution, the U.S. sent 20,000 troops to the border of Mexico. In 1927, a Texas law that banned blacks from voting was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1933, the board game Monopoly was invented. In 1951, U.N. forces in Korea under General Matthew Ridgeway launched Operation Ripper against the Chinese. In 1965, state troopers and a sheriff’s posse broke up a march by civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama. In 1968, the Battle of Saigon came to an end. In 1975, the U.S. Senate revised the filibuster rule. The new rule allowed 60 senators to limit debate instead of the previous two-thirds. In 1987, Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight titleholder when he beat James Smith in a decision during a 12-round fight in Las Vegas. In 2009, NASA’s Kepler Mission, a space photometer for searching for extrasolar planets in the Milky Way galaxy, was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

WEDNESDAY WISDOM: “It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.”—Benjamin Franklin