Stocks had another volatile week as investors had plenty to worry about: oil, the economy, housing and international tensions.
For the week, the Dow lost 1%, while the S&P and Nasdaq fell about 1.1%. Telecom stocks were a bright spot in a falling market, closing the week with a gain of 0.5%,while industrial and financial shares led losers as both saw weekly declines of more than 1.9%.
On Monday, rising oil prices and a further weakening of the housing market left stocks mixed. Then on Tuesday, a big drop in earnings by homebuilder Lennar sparked more worries about housing, which pushed the market lower.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke managed to knock stocks still further on Wednesday after testifying before Congress that "economic uncertainty" has increased. Stocks finally had a positive day on Thursday, but only because of a late rally led by telecom and energy.
The markets got knocked back down on Friday, especially after the U.S. decided to impose tariffs on some Chinese goods, but ended the week little-changed.
Despite all the weakness in stocks, many pros remained remarkably upbeat throughout the week.
"Even though we may test the lows just because some short-term investors may get out of the way, this market has been really good shape," said Richard Steinberg, president and chief investment officer at Steinberg Global Asset Management. "If we pull back, investors should be reassessing their portfolios and looking to pick up bargains."