- Market Commentary -

March 15, 2010 (FinancialWire) (By Genevieve Hawkins) — Wall Street rallied mildly last week as investors bet that Citigroup (NYSE: C) had better days ahead of it, but the economic recovery remains tentative.

Last week the Dow rose 0.6%, while the S&P 500 increased 1.0% and the Nasdaq jumped 1.8% on the back of better than expected retail data. The stock market rally has had staying power in the year since the Dow’s trough, but investors may not be able to power it much higher.

The Federal Reserve is expected to meet about setting interest rates in the coming week. Although the Fed is widely expected to keep rates at their historic low, their statement may provide color on the continuing economic recovery. With four types of options expiring on Friday, Wall Street may begin to get volatile again. Beware of the ides of March.

Investors may be hoping that stocks have another leg up, but it is unclear what will propel a further rally in the short term. It’s more likely that profits will be booked and money taken out of the market.  

[Go to http://www.financialwire.net/?s=genevieve+hawkins to see more commentaries by Genevieve Hawkins.]

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The FirstAlert(tm) Economics Calendar lists Empire State Manufacturing Index for March (8:30 a.m.), Treasury Int’l Capital Flows for January (9 a.m.), Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization for Feb (9:15 a.m.), Treasury auctions 3&6-month bills (11:30 a.m.), NAHB Housing Market Index for March (1 p.m.).

The FirstAlert(tm) Events Calendar showcases ATHR, DIVX, ACTU, ATEC at ROTH OC Growth Stock Conference; LIFE at UBS West Coast Life Sciences Bus Tour Investor Conference; VPRT Investor Day.

FirstAlert(tm) Website of the Day: http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/

Quote of the Day: “Whiskey—I like it, I always did, and that is the reason I never use it.” Robert E. Lee

Today is: Ides of March; Buzzards Day, World Consumer Rights Day.

Happy Birthday: Andrew Jackson, Eduard Strauss, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Joe E. Ross, Harry James, Norm Van Brocklin, Alan Bean, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Judd Hirsch, Jimmy Swaggart, Phil Lesh, Mike Love, Sly Stone, Ry Cooder, Fabio Lanzoni, Mark McGrath.

Today in History: Julius Caesar, dictator of the Roman Republic, was stabbed to death in 44 BC by Marcus Junius Brutus, Decimus Junius Brutus and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March. Christopher Columbus returned to Spain in 1493 after his first trip to the Americas. Maine became the 23rd U.S. state in 1820. Rolls-Royce Ltd. was registered in 1906. President Woodrow Wilson sent 12,000 U.S. troops over the U.S.-Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa in 1916. Mikhail Gorbachev was elected as the first executive president of the Soviet Union in 1990.

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