Rick Heflin recently bought a $110,000 assembly robot for his computer electronics company — and the stimulus bill helped pay for it.

Bulls lead our sentiment survey as the Fed is unlikely this week to make any interest rate changes.

Industrial production manages to increase in February, shrugging off a series of severe storms in the Northeast as well as a sharp cutback in automotive output, Federal Reserve data indicate.

The Federal Reserve seems likely to repeat, at least one last time, its mantra about keeping U.S. interest rates at very low levels for an extended period, analysts and observers of the central bank agree.

Moving quickly to put its mark on the Federal Reserve, the White House on Friday identified two economists and a lawyer as its choices to fill all three vacancies on the central bank s board of governors, according to a senior administration official.

Caterpillar Falls 2%; DJIA Down Modestly U.S. stocks fell as the dollar gained and weaker commodities prices bit into the energy sector. Baidu was up 6% on Google s troubles in China.

Stocks edge lower Monday after industrial production rose 0.1% in February. Economists expected it to remain flat after January s growth of 0.9%.

Stocks were lower Monday after a warning from Moody s on the U.S. and other nations with AAA debt ratings and amid worries about China tightening. But Walmart jumped 1% after an analyst upgrade.

U.S. stocks stayed lower on Monday after the National Association of Home Builders s housing index fell two points in March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 24 points, or 0.2%, at 10,600.

Major U.S. indexes retreat, a day after the Nasdaq and S&P 500 close at 18-month highs. Moody s comments on the U.S. s debt rating and the Federal Reserve meeting are in focus.