Wall Street's bulls are still running but they are no thundering herd heading into Thursday's market, which promises to be ruled by the economic data du jour, and the rise and fall of the price of a barrel of oil.    Read More

The dangers of complacency were abundantly evident in the last hour. I have remarked all day that the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was nearing its lowest level since July of last year. While this is an indication that the levels of fear are clearly dropping, it also indicates--given the real concerns with the economy--that complacency may be a bit too high.    Read More

Inflation fears are beginning to trump recession worries. That was the finding of Merrill Lynch's latest monthly global fund manager survey, which shows the number of managers expecting recession this year actually declined.    Read More

The government reported that gasoline prices in April were down 2 percent when "seasonally adjusted." How could this be, when we know prices went up at the pump? Here's how it happened:    Read More

Futures popped 8 points as CPI was a bit below expectations. Prior to the CPI, the bond market broke to lows for the year as the Wall Street Journal's front page asks, "Recession? Not So Fast, Say Some."    Read More

New data on inflation at the consumer level and oil inventory numbers are two reports that will have a hold on Wednesday's markets.    Read More

I don’t want to make too much of this, but it was a pretty good day for stocks, considering all the negative stuff the markets had to deal with. Consider:    Read More

Want to know how frustrated Hewlett-Packard spacer shareholders are today? Here's a couple stats: Market cap yesterday: $123 b Today: $107 b Loss: $16 b.   Read More

Three points about today’s trading: 1) financials again down on weak earnings from European banks; 2) Bulls hoping that strengthening dollar would lead to a decline in commodity prices are again having a hard time; and 3) All those people arguing that the EDS/Hewlett deal would be a big challenge to IBM are missing the point.   Read More

Stronger retail sales than expected (ex-auto up 0.5 percent, the best showing since November) has caused an 8-point pop in futures. Elsewhere: 1) Hewlett-Packard's $12.6 b deal for Electronic Data systems ($25.00 a share) is a direct challenge to IBM.    Read More