Will This Morning's Pullback Last?

The market surged higher yesterday, on very strong volume. There have been few pullbacks along the way, since the recent market lows in March. This morning, the market is a bit lower, probably on profit taking. But the question is, will it last? Everyone seems to be waiting for a pullback to put more money to work, yours truly included, but as I have often said, the market rarely accomodates the herd.

In economic news, Chairman Bernanke testified before the Joint Economic Committee this morning. I'll post the jist of his comments in a bit.

Also, the April ISM Services Index came in better than expected at 43.7. This is still below the 50 level that marks expansion, but it is up from last month's 40.8 reading, and I believe has been up for 6 or 7 months now.

Asian markets were slightly higher overnight; the dollar is lower this morning, while gold is a bit higher; the 10-year yield is roughly flat at 3.15%; and the VIX is higher to 35.08.

Trading comment: Yesterday I took some trading long positions (short-term) in some stocks like MOS and VMW. Both of these look like good bounce candidates short-term. This morning, I took some profits in URBN, which has had a very nice bounce and reports earnings next week.

For the most part, I have just been doing these small trades lately, as I continue to wait for more of a pullback to add to my etf exposure. It can be frustrating to wait while the market is moving higher, but risk is always 2-sided in the market, and opportunites are easier made up than losses.

long MOS, URBN, VMW