Earnings reports on Wednesday from big banks like Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) were encouraging. And Apple (AAPL) got a much-needed boost from the top tech analysts. However, Goldman’s analysts tried to throw a wet blanket on the markets earlier this week with their expectation that earnings reports overall this year would be “uninspiring” and that equity returns this year likely will be only in the single digits. Read more about Sector Detector: Bulls resist giving up any ground

When something is confusing or incomprehensible, a person might say, “It’s all Greek to me.” Well, that’s exactly what investors have been saying for the past several days—in the market’s inimitable way. Despite promising economic and corporate news in the U.S., the headline risk from Europe has been just too much to bear. It is keeping the bulls at bay, and front and center for an encore performance is Greece. Read more about Sector Detector: Confused investors are saying, “It’s all Greek to me”

Proceed with Caution

Stocks Seeking a Catalyst

by David Brown, Chief Market Strategist, Sabrient Systems

Today saw the S&P 500 continue to slide slowly from its recent three-and-a-half-year high. The index closed at 1329.47, down -0.62%. Read more about What the Market Wants: Stocks Seeking a Catalyst

The market is off to a great start this week, powered by last week's momentum and further buoyed by a lessening of fears about Europe's sovereign debt. All the major indices are above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, with the S&P 500 finally breaking out of the 1120 resistance level, closing today at 1141, a new 4-month high. As an interesting historical aside, the 1120 resistance level was first encountered way back in April 1998. Read more about What the Market Wants: S&P 500 Sets New 4-Month High

Which Way Wednesday - Topping or Popping?

By Phil of Phil's Stock World

Wheee, what a ride! Read more about Which Way Wednesday - Topping or Popping?