All Eyes On Bernanke Today

The market is slightly lower in early trading, after a nice rally yesterday that took the major indexes to new, multi-year highs. Volume is likely to remain light this morning ahead of the FOMC statement from the Fed. Also, for the first time Chairman Bernanke will hold a press conference after the meeting to answer questions. I think every trader will be watching his comments.

Earnings reports continue to pour in. Among the positive reactions were Boeing (BA), Wellpoint (WLP), Devry (DV), and a surprising bounce in Acme Packet (APKT). On the downside were disappointments from Broadcom (BRCM) and Conoco Phillips (COP). Another company that missed earnings was Amazon (AMZN), but after falling in after hours trading last night, the stock has rallied strong and is up 4% today.

In economic news, durable goods orders for March were better than expected, rising 2.5%.

Asian markets were mixed overnight. Japan rose despite S&P downgrading their outlook on Japan debt to negative. Europe was higher this morning.

The 10-year yield is bouncing to 3.36%; and the VIX is 4% higher to 16.31.

Trading comment: Energy and materials stocks are weak this morning, which could be an opportunity to add to positions. Healthcare stocks are mostly higher, while tech is mixed. Most people think that the market is likely to selloff after Bernanke's comments today. I certainly see their point, but as we know, often when everyone is looking for the same reaction from the market it usually fails to materialize. Regardless, I will wait to see how the market trades later in the day before deciding to put money to work today.

long APKT, WLP