After yesterday's surprising plunge, markets bounced back today with SPX tacking on $6 to close at $2115 and RUT gaining $7 to close at $1259. But trading volume fell off with 2.2 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading. Trading volume increased 4% on the NYSE, but fell 6% on NASDAQ. The increase in VIX yesterday was recovered today as VIX fell about three quarters of a point to 12.4%.

The Case Schiller housing price survey gave us positive news today with a 5% increase in prices for February, up from January's 4.5% rise. The Conference Board's consumer confidence survey came in at 95.2 for April, down from March's 101.4, but this remains a very high level.

The market is treading water, waiting on the FOMC announcement tomorrow. We may see some volatility in prices tomorrow afternoon. Look at the candlesticks on SPX and RUT for the past week to ten days. There are many long upper and lower shadows on those candlesticks, denoting price extremes intraday that do not hold up into the close. In other words, the market is showing a lack of direction. Every time the bulls take charge and push prices higher, the bears pull it back, and vice versa. One could argue that this is a pretty accurate description for the market year to date. Many analysts were predicting a poor earnings season would tip this market over to the bears, but that hasn't happened. By and large, earnings are close to historical norms for the percentage of companies beating estimates so far. While the bulls appear to remain in control, the threat of the Fed increasing interest rates at some point seems to be holding traders in check. They are bullish, but nervous.