Orders for big-ticket U.S. goods jumped 4.6% in December, propelled by a large batch of orders for Boeing aircraft. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected orders to climb 2.3%. Stripping out the herky-jerky transportation sector, orders rose a smaller but still solid 1.3% as booking for military hardware surged, the Commerce Department reported. Yet orders for core capital goods, a key barometer of private-sector business investment, only rose a scant 0.2% after two straight months of strong gains. And over the past 12 months these orders have actually fallen 0.3%. (full story)