Stock Market Blog -Mar 25th

The market pulled back this week, though leading stocks seemed to hold their ground, so the rally may not be over yet (we still have to finish out the quarter). Oil and gas prices remain at elevated levels, and I expect this will eventually take a toll on on investor bullishness.  We saw another mini 'flash crash' on Friday on the Bats exchange (ironically, on the day Bats was supposed to go public!) Bonds rallied as stocks dipped lower.

New all time highs:   AAPL, ABV, ACN, CMG, DFS, DG, DKS, MNST, NUS, PM, PX, RGR, SPG, SBUX, XRT
All time lows:  FAZ, QID, SDS, TZA -the usual suspects! Also throw in: VXX, TVIX
Pops:  LULU, RGR, WDC...
Drops: KBH (home builders), NKE

Beware of leveraged ETFs/ETNs that don't accurately track their underlying.

BTW -that's a drop from 450 to 17 vs. a drop from 45 to 15!!

Weekly Unemployment claims

Next week: Economic reports
Earnings reports from BBY and RIMM.

Market Commentary

This week's pullback might be a set-up for another rally into the end of the quarter. Also keep in mind however, the VIX (volatility indicator -chart above) is at a 'low' point which suggests we could soon see a reversal in this market rally.
 
This week's charts:
S&P 500 -one more rally coming this week?


Commodities/Futures (charts):
Oil prices were down a bit, closing near $106.87
Natural Gas was down some more, closing near $2.27
Gold recovered a bit, closing near $1662
30 year Bond futures rallied as stocks pulled back, closing near $137.81
The US Dollar dropped a bit, closing near 79.57

NEWS:
U.S. stocks close tough week on bright note
First Quarter On Track to Be Best in 14 years
Is The VIX Flashing A Buy Signal?
Federal Reserve Stress Tests Make Us All Muppets
Apple: New iPad Sales Total 3 Million
IPad: The PC Killer

TVIX Plummets Nearly 30% Despite Rallying VIX (TVIX, VXX)
Bank of America Tests Rental Program as Alternative to Foreclosure 
Food Stamp Usage Continues To Set Records
Spain Is Not Out of the Woods Yet