Everybody knows that a big sporting event kills worker productivity. You only have to look around your office to figure that out.

So do snowstorms, the flu and a colleague who creates gossip by starting to date someone else in the office.

There’s new research on what happens during the Super Bowl. According to employment firm Robert Half, 54 percent of professional workers know someone who has called in sick or made up an excuse for skipping work for the game.

That’s up from 41 percent from three years ago, according to Robert Half. And 18 percent say people spend too much time talking about sports after the Super Bowl.

Stocks rose sharply Wednesday and Apple’s better-than-expected performance was credited. And that was part of it.

But it’s also the end of the month. And that means money managers are trying to make their performances look better by pushing stocks higher.

So don’t let them fool you.