The Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ 100 and S&P 100 moved higher for the week, although it seems there is more clarity about fundamentals. The Weekly leading Index (WLI) provided by ECRI has been declining for the past nine weeks.

"While the U.S. economic expansion is well set to strengthen in the near term, the current easing in WLI growth to a 25-week low suggests that growth will begin to throttle back by mid-year," said ECRI Managing Director Lakshman Achuthan.

The fact is wherever we turn, we see a wall of risk. In Europe the consequences of the global financial crisis are very obvious in Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy and Portugal, and the UK is already subject to rumors of default. It´s difficult to see how governement can get their fiscal house in order.