Bulls have been crying out for a good end to the earnings season, and this will only encourage them to push the market higher, especially if oil prices continue to remain low.
Earnings are very much the focus of trading as we continue this week, the busiest of the season. Investors want to see that US corporations are still providing returns for shareholders in the face of rising commodity prices.
Now market participants are saying that investors should expect range bound trading to continue into next week when the Fed makes its interest rate decision.
As oil prices continue to trade higher, this (deficit) decline could be short lived and the U.S. trade woes may get worse.
Anything higher here could confirm investors' fears that the Fed's interest rate tightening is far from over and is set to continue well into 2006.