Bulls Hack Out of a Thicket

Thursday brought a mix of economic signs -- some strong little crocuses sprouting after spring's first defrost. But, there are some suprime weeds growing in this garden, and its future is uncertain.

Not only are there big down days in the stock market, like Tuesday's, intermixed with smaller up days like Wednesday's and Thursday's, but there are no clear or lasting sector rotations. The rallies and the selloffs are broad-based. Volatility remains unleashed, but sentiment is no longer at extremes. And the major indices fluctuate back and forth over the neutral line throughout single trading days as they did Thursday.

On the macroeconomic front, with subprime-spillover concerns battling for attention with higher inflation readings like Thursday's producer price index, traders admit they're not sure where the spinning top will fall. ...