“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence.” -- Robert Frost

Right now, it looks like it would take a major downside event to prevent the major indices from having a swimmingly good year.

“An idea is a point of departure and no more. As soon as you elaborate, it becomes transformed by thought.” — Pablo Picasso

Last week saw investors exposed to a broad swath of noise from a number of diverse sources, and the bottom line was that Wall Street pretty much ended the week close to where it had begun.

It was another week of wild mood-swings on Wall Street, as Ben Bernanke seemed to be intent on roiling the markets. Deliberate or not, the effect was the same, as investors seemed hesitant to jump in on the dips with the same enthusiasm that they have for the majority of the year so far. The question is, will the volatility express continue to barrel through the summer vacation months?

The last couple of weeks has seen Wall Street moving in something of a sideways trend, though that hardly indicates the increased level of intraday volatility that the equity market has been experiencing since the last week of May. Will it be more of the same for the coming week? Bet on it . . .

The VIX is looking a little bit jumpy as of late, perhaps reflecting something of a rising wariness among investors in terms of risk.

Can the Bulls be standing on something of a slippery slope, about to slide towards a trend reversal? Or is it just a seasonal thing, with investors tightening up their portfolios prior to summer?

"If you simply try to tell the truth you will, nine times out of ten, be original without ever having noticed it." -- C.S. Lewis

Another week, another victory lap for the Bulls.

Anyone notice a pattern here? Technically speaking, at least, that pattern is a solid uptrend, with nary an imminent level of resistance close to the horizon.

“All generalizations are false, including this one.” -- Mark Twain

For those investors who may have been feeling a tad complacent due to the recent record highs of several of the major indices, last week probably served as a reminder that high volatility is always just a shout away from knocking the market down a notch or three.

The financial sector is one of four sectors to earn our “dangerous” rating and is the worst-ranked sector in the our 3Q11 Sector Roadmap report according to my methodology at New Constructs.