Strong underlying gains in the durable goods report together with last week's surge in retail sales point to a very favorable start to first-quarter GDP. The results are feeding chatter that the Federal Reserve may upsize next month's rate hike to 50 basis points and that this year would be too soon to see a rate cut.

Ex-transportation orders (excluding swings in aicraft) along with core capital goods oders both rose sharply in January, ending a run of flat results for these two readings and -- however -- constrasting starkly with another negative showing in a regional manufacturing report, this time from Dallas that extends a long run of contraction across similar reports that all belie the strength of today's durables report.

Stocks rose on the day with the Dow up 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq up 0.6 percent. Company news included a 9.4 percent gain for Union Pacific after its CEO, facing criticism for lower-than-expected profits, said he would step down.

Market Reflections track market reaction to the trading day's major events. Economic data, policymaker speeches, and company news are featured in this report as well as key indexes and financial instruments.

Understanding why markets respond as they do is fundamental for an investor. Market Reflections help explain how the day's events, news, and data impact the outlook for the economy and for market prices.