And the week ahead is about to throw one more element into the mix: the first big surge of second-quarter corporate earnings.
Among the highlights: Citigroup on Monday, IBM and Yahoo! on Tuesday, Apple Computer and Intel on Wednesday and Microsoft on Thursday. (For more details, see the chart).
The good news is the outlook is still healthy for the second quarter - analysts are expecting earnings to grow 12.4 percent from a year earlier, according to Thomson Financial. The bad news is that the mood on Wall Street may be too gloomy for strong earnings to help.
"The issue is if the market is negative, even if the focus moves to earnings, those earnings will be (seen) through a fairly negative prism," said Douglas Altabef, a money manager at Matrix Asset Advisors.
Altabef isn't optimistic that the onslaught of earnings will be enough to distract Wall Street from its current concerns.
Among the highlights: Citigroup on Monday, IBM and Yahoo! on Tuesday, Apple Computer and Intel on Wednesday and Microsoft on Thursday. (For more details, see the chart).
The good news is the outlook is still healthy for the second quarter - analysts are expecting earnings to grow 12.4 percent from a year earlier, according to Thomson Financial. The bad news is that the mood on Wall Street may be too gloomy for strong earnings to help.
"The issue is if the market is negative, even if the focus moves to earnings, those earnings will be (seen) through a fairly negative prism," said Douglas Altabef, a money manager at Matrix Asset Advisors.
Altabef isn't optimistic that the onslaught of earnings will be enough to distract Wall Street from its current concerns.
