Markets Muddling Through

Stocks fell last during a news-heavy week. The major headline was Osama Bin Laden’s death, which is unlikely to have a lasting impact on our financial outlook. We’ll continue to focus on the fundamentals – earnings trends and economic data.

Bob Doll’s commentary this week was particularly interesting (click HERE to read it in full) :

• US in the midst of a “soft patch” – higher energy prices are the main culprit
• Concerns still linger about Greece & Ireland’s sovereign debt
• Positives include:
• Strong corporate earnings
• Employment increasing
• Banks interested in lending again
• Baseline – macro environment will dominated by moderate growth; low levels of core inflation; near 0% interest rates. Concerns about European Debt issues, higher energy prices, and any dampening economic data could impact markets. For now, the market continues to moderate higher.