(Michael Schwartz) - The stock market seems to be climbing the proverbial "wall of worry." Despite potential road hazards such as sovereign debt issues, rising interest rates, a weak job market, and a stalled housing recovery, investors bid up stock prices last week to an 18-month high, according to MarketWatch. Of course, these things could eventually affect stock prices, but, for now, stocks are riding the momentum of improving earnings and some underlying stability in the economy.

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(Michael Schwartz) - Volatility in the financial markets has risen noticeably in the past few weeks as investors remain on edge about a multitude of issues. A mixed employment report for January, continued budget deficit issues in Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain, monetary tightening in China, and a growing sense that the worldwide economy might be running on government stimulus fumes instead of stable gas all contributed to worldwide jitters, according to the Associated Press. In the U.S., the S&P 500 index dropped for the fourth week in a row and it is now down 7.3% from its January 15 recovery high, according to data from Yahoo! Finance. Foreign stocks, commodities, and gold are also down for the year as shown in the chart below.

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(Lee Siler) - The market treaded water yesterday, but is selling off this morning. The ADP National Employment Report, which is a number that has been monitored lately, showed a decrease in jobs by 532,000. This was slightly less than expected, but still very negative none-the-less. Investors will be looking for the Labor Department's report on Friday, which will be crucial to the sentiment of the economy.

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