Third Time No Charm for Bulls

Some say three of anything makes a trend. But three down days for the major U.S. stock market indices may not mean the market has broken its rally and embarked on a downtrend.

"We see no technical signs of a correction," says Louise Yamada, of Louise Yamada Technical Research Advisors. She adds that the markets would need to fall below key technical support levels like 4700 on the Dow Jones Transportation Average or 12,350 on the Dow Jones Industrial Average to indicate the market is breaking down. The only sign of weakness in the stock market is a slight dropoff in trading volume lately, Yamada says.

Indeed, the Dow transports bucked the broad market's trend Monday, ending its downward slope. The transports finished up 0.4% on the day to close at 4937.93, or 1.4% off their Feb. 2 all-time closing high.

But many investors are worried nonetheless, if only because the rally has been strong for seven and a half months.

"The market is overdue for a pullback," says Marc Pado, chief markets analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. "This seems like a reasonable time for it. February is a historically negative month, and there is just this compelling idea that we've run the course here."

Pado notes that good news last week on the inflation front, including higher productivity and lower unit labor costs, couldn't spur the market to maintain its rally. Likewise, oil running into a wall at $60 per barrel didn't inspire buying last week or on Monday.

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