Coming Week: End the Quarter ... Please

Any hopes of window-dressing beefing up the results for quarter-end could be dashed, as traders have probably already done most of what they had on the agenda to close out the three-month period. The week will be only about three and a half days long, with markets closing early on Thursday and staying dark Friday in the U.S. for the Independence Day holiday.

"Trading desks will be thin" during the short week, says Greg Collins, CEO of Fountain Hill Investments, "and that could add to the choppiness and volatility."

The outlook for next week isn't too good overall.

In the bear-market levels registering now, "you've got to sell the rallies, says Bobby Harrington, head of block origination at UBS. "Investors are concerned. You have to keep an eye on redemptions [from funds] -- it's getting to the point where more people are saying they want to be on the sidelines here."

Also, some strategists expect a moderate selloff heading into the holiday.

"Markets may tail off," Dwyer of FTN says. "At this point, I don't think people want to be long or short. They just want to be out of the way."

Amid all the gloom, there are some encouraging signs, as well.

"I think the economy's hanging tough, even with all the negatives -- which really tells you that the U.S. economy is incredible," says Mark Coffelt, president and chief investment officer at Empiric Funds. "I'm very optimistic for the rest of the year." He points to the positive first-quarter GDP, among other things, to back up his belief.

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