Among the worst performers today were W.W. Grainger (NYSE: GWW) , Badger Meter (NYSE: BMI) , and Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) . The stock market bounced back on Tuesday, with investors focusing on strong economic data and favorable earnings reports from a wide variety of companies to create a generally optimistic view of the investing world. Inflation data showed a solid advance in prices, which is reassuring those who had feared that the prospect of deflation could give monetary policymakers no choice but to continue to leave rates at unusually low levels for the foreseeable future.