Weekend Linkfest

Good Saturday morning! Another week of up/down/all around slamma-jamma trading. Markets did not have a lot to show for all their exertions, ending pretty much where they began. I guess we can thank China, Microsoft, Gentle Ben, oil, gold and silver for our trials and tribulations this week. All in all, it's been pretty nuts, and nothing sums it up better than this cartoon: It's now official -- we have no idea what's going on.

Ah, but enough frivolity. Once again, it is another gorgeous weekend in the Northeast, and rather than fritter away the time chitchatting, let's plow headlong into this week's linkfest:

• China tightened rates this week, and we were about to head into a nasty selloff. That was averted by Fed Chairman Bernanke's dovish testimony before Congress. The markets reversed when he said, "Even if in the Committee's judgement the risks to its objectives are not entirely balanced, at some point in the future the Committee may decide to take no action at one or more meetings." Thus, we keep getting reminded that it's the data, stupid.

• File this under "Uh-Oh": After the previous week's big 200-point one-day rally, I wrote (on April 19th) that the worst-case scenario for the markets was a pause-resume scenario. Guess what? That is precisely what the Fed chairman implied in the above quote. Such a scenario is now increasingly likely. Jim Jubak, writing before Bernanke's testimony, explained why interest rates will march higher. ...