The major indexes edged higher for the third day following a good jobs report and approval of a tentative austerity plan in Greece. The Dow gained 6 points, the Nasdaq rose by 11, and the S&P 500 advanced by 1 point. Seventeen of the Dow's 30 components gained ground led by Untied Technologies (UTX), which rose 2%. Tech stocks led the gains, with Apple's shares (AAPL) rising by 3% following a report the company would introduce its next generation iPad in early March. Volume was light and declining issues narrowly outpaced advancers. The prices of Treasuries weakened, while the price of gold futures gained 0.5% to $1,741.20 an ounce. The price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 1.1% to $99.84 a barrel.

In Earnings News

- PepsiCo announced earnings increased from 85 cents a share a year ago to 89 cents a share in the latest quarter, as revenue rose 11%. The company also announced it would cut 3% of its workforce this year, or 8,700 jobs, and increase its advertising and marketing budget in North America. Even so, the company also reduced its earnings guidance for 2012, and the price of Pepsi shares (PEP) fell 3% in today's session.

In Other Business News

- New claims for unemployment benefits fell last week by 15,000 to 358,000, which is the lowest level in almost four years, according to the Labor Department. The four-week moving average of claims, which smoothes out some of the volatility of the weekly data, declined to 366,250.

- Oracle, the software giant, announced it would acquire Taleo, a maker of web-based recruitment software, for $1.9 billion. The deal would strengthen Oracle's competitive position in "cloud computing," one of the fastest-growing sectors in technology. The deal equates to $46 a share for Taleo, which represents a premium of about 18% over the closing price for Taleo on Wednesday. The stock (TLEO) gained 17% in today's session. The price of Oracle shares (ORCL) gained 0.5%.

- Greece's prime minister announced his government has agreement from political leaders for new austerity measures that could clear the way for European governments and other financial institutions to lend more money to Greece. It was later announced that Greece's labor minister would resign in protest against the austerity measures.

- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the building of two new nuclear power plants by Southern Company in Georgia. These are the first nuclear plants approved for construction since 1978 and could be operational as early as 2016.

- President Obama announced an agreement between the federal government, most of the state governments, and five of the nation's biggest banks under which the banks will provide up to $26 billion for, among other things, reducing loan balances of homeowners who are facing foreclosure on their homes.

*****

Fashion Week opens today in New York and the prospect of what designers have in mind for me to wear gives the creeps. Okay, I admit fashion has terrified me ever since my mother used to make me wear knickers and knee socks to church when I was seven years old. She thought they looked great on me, but I didn't see many other kids in knickers. And ever since then, I've been suspicious when people want to decorate me their way. Here are some items from a folder I call: "What's old is new and makes me blue."

1. Shoe designers are hoping men will take to high-top shoes for the office. (Huh? What do they think we have to wade through at the office? Well…never mind that.) Yes, not only are they coming out with boot-like dress shoes, but in some cases they are adding sneaker-type soles. (Yikes, these sound like shoes designed by a committee consisting of a bunch of ten-year-old basketball fans, a couple of wilderness freaks, and an executive with an accounting firm.)

2. Of course, guys, if you don't like high-top, sneaker-soled Oxfords, you can now go for bright colors. Cole Haan has wingtips in raspberry and Brooks Brothers has some nice, dark-brown, suede brogues with lemon yellow soles. Or, if lemon yellow isn't masculine enough, you can get sky blue soles.

3. Speaking of raspberry, if you're in London this spring, you could pick up a pair of jeans by a firm called "Naked and Famous Denim," which has just come out with raspberry-scented jeans. The aroma, which is contained in tiny capsules embedded in the fabric, is released when the pants are scratched and will endure through at least five washings. The price of scratch 'n' sniff jeans is about $150 a pair. (That's too much scratch for my budget, and if I bought a pair, Kathy would be sniffing back tears.)

4. The fashion industry, of course, has its own jargon for all this goofy stuff. Recent fashion vocabulary includes words like "spants" (harem pants), "swacket" (sweater/jacket), "jorts" (denim shorts), and "whorts" (winter shorts). Obviously, the garment biz cuts up and stitches together words as well as cloth.

5. Finally, if you're in the Garment District of New York for Fashion Week, you may notice that some taxi cabs have been outfitted with television screens and electronic terminals that enable passengers to view and purchase fashions during their ride. Really? Shopping for fashion in the back of a cab? Glamour magazine, which is sponsoring this experiment, refers to these cabs as "mobile taxi shops." Why not "boutixis?" (I say: "Boo, taxis.")

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