Stocks Rise Again

Fleckenstein, however, questions the government's data-collection methods and, in turn, the veracity of its numbers.

He pointed to the example of recent consumer-price index numbers, which he contends belie the severity of the U.S.'s inflation problems. "Does anybody believe that CPI?" he said, "No. It's wrong. And those same types of errors in calculation flow through the GDP accounting."

Separately, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 372,000, slightly ahead of the 370,000 estimate.

Investors were also dealing with news that Dallas Federal Reserve president Richard Fisher, a member of the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee, said interest rates could be hiked "sooner rather than later" if inflationary expectations continue to worsen, "even in the face of an anemic economic scenario."

The Fed has eased its overnight lending rate by 325 basis points since September. For his part, Fisher has a reputation as an inflation hawk who hasn't always been convinced about the necessity to lower rates.

Stocks' volume, as has been the case over the past few months, was fairly thin. Some 1.92 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, and the Nasdaq saw volume of roughly 1.96 billion. Breadth was positive, with advancing issues topping decliners by a 3-to-2 margin.

On the corporate side, MasterCard (MA Quote) stock leaped as much as 10.5% to an all-time high after executives said the credit-card concern should achieve double-digit revenue growth this year and a double-digit profit climb in the years to come. Shares closed up 7.5% at $308.41.