Weekend Linkfest

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After last week's mayhem, investors breathed a sigh of relief. The past five days saw some swings but not too much trouble. Markets gained about 1%, most of it on Tuesday, when overseas bourses rallied strongly and U.S. indices followed suit.

By the numbers, the Dow was up 1.3% on the week, off just 4% from the all-time closing high set last month (although quite a few traders were heard to complain it didn't feel that way). The S&P 500 saw a 1.1% rebound from the previous week, while the Nasdaq gained 0.8%, lagging its brethren. The Russell 2000, a big loser the prior week, added a little less than 1.3%.

Barron's Trader column points out that "small-caps outperformed large, especially on Friday, suggesting that investors' risk appetite hasn't disappeared. Still, market sentiment remains skittish, following late February's huge selloff."

Economic data for the week was mostly soft: The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the U.S. economy added only 97,000 jobs in February, the ISM's non-manufacturing index fell to 54.3 from 59, wholesale inventories rose and retail sales in February came in below expectations.

No worries, mate -- we got your back. It's Linkfest time:

INVESTING & TRADING

• 7th anniversary of the beginning of a painful lesson: "It was on March 10, 2000, that the Nasdaq Composite index closed at its all-time high of 5,048.62. By the time all the air in the Internet bubble had been let out, some 2-1/2 years later on Oct.9, 2002, that benchmark stood at 1,114.11 some 78% lower than where it stood at the top." (MarketWatch)

• Last week, a Barron's article by Bill Alpert (that was buried on page 39) discussed what may be the next great Wall Street scandal: Analyst Recommendation Back Dating. (If no Barron's, go here). ...