SPX lost $21 yesterday and proceeded to gain $23 today, closing at $2108 and thus making up all of the lost ground. It would be nice if I could explain why this happened, but I can't. And I recommend skepticism toward whoever claims they understand this back and forth dance. This nervous whipsaw trading even affects the professionals. IBD moved from Confirmed Uptrend to Uptrend Under Pressure yesterday and, unless something changes, I expect they will be moving back to Confirmed Uptrend in short order. RUT traded back higher by $8 to close at $1228, not as strong a move as SPX. Volatility contracted with the VIX closing at 12.7%, down almost two points, a large move for one day. Trading volume fell off markedly today with 2.1 billion shares of the S&P 500 trading. Trading volume decreased 26% on the NYSE and dropped 18% on NASDAQ.

The ISM manufacturing index was flat for April at 51.5. Construction spending declined 0.6% in March, down from a slightly positive 0.1% in February. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey was unchanged at 95.9 for April - everyone's happy! I thought today was the day for the jobs report - the first Friday of the month, but I apparently didn't get the memo; the jobs report will be released next Friday, May 8th.

Have a nice weekend.