(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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(Michael Schwartz) - Could November go down in history as a major turning point in the U.S. economy? The shocking (in a positive way) unemployment report released last Friday by the Labor Department showed the economy lost only 11,000 jobs in November. The markets were bracing for a number well in excess of 100,000, according to CNBC. On top of that, revisions to the previous two months showed 159,000 fewer jobs were lost than initially reported. And, to complete the trifecta, the unemployment rate dropped to 10.0% in November, down from 10.2% in October. On the surface, this is extremely good news for the economy as it suggests the economy is healing nicely.

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(Lee Siler) - News that government owned Dubai World is in a financial crisis rocked stock markets worldwide. While our markets dropped more than 1.5% on a holiday shortened trading day, markets abroad took the bigger hit. After the dust settled, it appears that the U.S. has limited exposure in Dubai. However, the news is not as good in Europe. The talk is that the United Kingdom has the biggest exposure to this troubled state. Although Dubai World is owned by the country of Dubai, it is not guaranteed by the government. This should not be a surprise. All of the debt accumulated by Dubai World was accumulated with the understanding that it was not backed by the government. The good news is that the oil rich country and neighbor of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, said it would make sure the banks are solvent and lend some financial assistance.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks futures are indicating a flat opening, on comments from Ben Bernake that is strengthening the dollar. The stronger dollar is causing commodity prices to drop as well in early trading.

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(Lee Siler) - Investors look for earnings to try and make it three up days in a row. Today is the official start of earnings season, as Alcoa (AA) will report after the close. Alcoa traded modestly higher yesterday, as this Dow component performed better than the index.

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(Lee Siler) - Today the Fed starts their two-day meeting. The speculation is that the Fed will likely leave the Fed Funds Rate near 0% for a while longer. Obviously, inflation will be watched and combated when it starts to rear its ugly head.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks rallied big yesterday, as Wall Street is still buzzing about Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments. The Fed chief announced that this recession is "likely" over. Recent economic data has suggested that the economy is stabilizing, but the question is how much growth we can expect in the short-term? The good news is at least the economy should not contract any further.

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(Lee Siler) - Yesterday, the market broke a four-day losing streak, as Wall Street was waiting for this morning's jobs report. Despite much speculation, the Labor Department reported that unemployment rose to 9.7% compared to an estimate of 9.5%. However, the news wasn't all bad, as U.S. employers cut a fewer-than-expected 216,000 jobs. The hike in the unemployment rate came from revisions the Labor Department did for June and July.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks got hit yesterday, as we start the worst period for the market. It's no secret that based on history the stock market performs its worst during the month of September. So it should've been a surprise when the major averages sold off from start to finish on the first day of the month. I've been expecting this pullback for several weeks now. But, investors continued to buy shares despite and economy that is still on unsure footing.

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