Many years ago, my mother would read me a children's book about a little train engine who kept saying, "I think I can. I think I can". This market reminded me of that little engine trying to climb the hill. SPX closed two dollars higher at $2128, and once again fell short of breaking out to new all-time highs. RUT fell back $7 to close at $1260. But NDX continued to make new highs, probably due to the internet stock boom started by Google.

Volatility, as measured by the VIX, rose slightly to close at 12.2%, but this remains a relatively low level. Trading volume declined across all major markets with two billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading. Volume on the NYSE dropped off by 10%, but only declined 2% on NASDAQ.

Earnings announcements make up most of the market news this week. IBM took it on the chin once again this evening. AAPL, CMG, GPRO, ISRG, MSFT and YHOO report after the close tomorrow. Many traders are watching AMZN (reports Thursday amc) after Google and Netflix blew out earnings last week.

The longer SPX bumps up against that previous high and retreats, the more likely we will see at least a minor pull back into the trading range. But NDX is motoring higher. Can it pull the blue chips along?