All eyes are on the European Central Bank. The financial risk in Europe has escalated to a point where investors see no way out unless the ECB comes to the rescue. The problem is that the bank’s charter makes that difficult.

 So here we are again. Another G-20 Summit, Greece on center stage, the Euro trading like a seismograph and you, my dear reader, simply trying to cope.

After this week’s stupendous rally, the logical question to ask is what happens next? Do stocks continue to move higher? Is it time to take profits? How do you navigate the future when there are still so many unknowns ahead of us?

Forget about earnings. Forget about the economy. None of it matters. Investors are totally mesmerized by every twist and turn in the on-going soap opera playing out in Europe.

My hunch paid off. Investors continued to buy stocks this week hoping that Europe will be able to sort out its financial crisis within the next few weeks. Right now, the markets are in need of a few days of consolidation before breaking higher.

One could tend to dismiss this week’s market move as just another short covering rally triggered by unsubstantiated rumors from Europe. Friday’s sell-off in the face of fairly good unemployment data bolsters that premise. So why do I feel we have further to go on the upside?

“He’s a real nowhere man, Sitting in his Nowhere Land, Making all his nowhere plans for nobody.”  The Beatles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfWEPu0w-7w If there was ever an argument for staying on the sidelines, this week’s market action should have driven that point home to even the most aggressive investors. We are betwixt and between, groping blindly through [...]

“Highway to the Danger Zone I’ll take you Right into the Danger Zone” Kenny Loggins from the movie “Top Gun”   One would think that the world is coming to an end. By Friday morning every headline, every opening sound bite on television and on the radio began with the massive declines experienced by world [...]

As disappointed global stock markets plummet in response to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest stimulus initiative, few investors are paying attention to what may be the Fed’s real intention behind this new plan—mortgage refinancing.

Over the last few months, the stock market has traded in a range that has confounded both bulls and bears alike. Now, we are fast approaching the top of the range once again. Will the averages disappoint once again or are we on the verge of a break out?