While all eyes are on Washington, D.C., and the progress of tax reform, the wheels of the economy continue to turn especially in the important area of manufacturing. 

Industrial production climbed 3.4% year over year driven by the rebound in the oil and natural gas industries.

• Manufacturing +2.4%
• Mining +9.4%
• Utilities +2.3%

Capacity Utilization is also breaking out to levels not seen since early 2015. 

The major indices are firmly in green and have been gaining momentum, reaching new all-time highs, as investors await the GOP tax bill.   News that Senator Rubio will now be a yes vote has helped propel the market even higher. Details of the bill are due out today at 5:30 ET.

Advancers outpace decliners 2134/768 on the NYSE and 1955/806 on the Nasdaq.  Standout sectors today are Consumer Staples, Financials, Health Care and Telecom.  On the other end, Materials, Real Estate and Utilities lag.

The latest Baker Hughes report shows a decline of 4 rigs in the past week to 747 rigs.  This is the first decline in 6 weeks.  WTI is up slightly trading at $57.29 and is near a two-year high.