Major Indexes Up Despite Fed Report

Stocks are fluctuating during Wednesday trading on mixed economic signals and earnings reports.

At 1:03 pm ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is up 0.92% at 457.41, while the Dow is up 0.86% and the S&P 500 is up 0.48%.

New government data out illustrated further signs of a slowing economy. The Federal Reserve reported that production at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities fell 1.5% in March — the fifth consecutive month of decline and worse than the 1% drop originally projected. Also, the Labor Department reported consumer prices fell 0.1% last month as a drop in energy prices offset the biggest rise in tobacco prices in more than a decade.

Despite the downtrodden data, small cap oil company Delta Petroleum (Nasdaq:DPTR) is up 14% and Agria Corp. (NYSE:GRO) is climbing 12%, both on slightly lower-than-average volume.

******I hate to keep talking oil here, but the sticky stuff is a great proxy for what’s going on with the economy and the financial markets. On the one hand, demand is down considerably, even OPEC has cut production and inventories are rising to the point that some analysts are saying “…we’re swimming in the stuff…”

Oil prices have been as low as $35 in the last couple of months – an inconceivable price just 6 six months ago.

But at the same time, investors fully understand that oil is absolutely indispensable to global economic growth. And alternative energy sources will not be affecting . . .

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