Wednesday Morning Wakeup

Tuesday marked the 1-year anniversary of the bear market bottom when the market hit a 12-year low on March 9, 2009. The S&P has advanced nearly 70% since then and Tuesday's closing price marked the highest level on the NASDAQ since September 2008.

Following the first two trading days this week, the Dow Jones edged down slightly to 10,564.38, while the S&P 500 is up 0.2% to 1,140.44, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ increased 0.6% to finish at 2,340.68.

There was little in the way of widely-followed economic data at the start of the week. In a lesser-known economic report, consumer confidence slipped in March to its lowest level in nearly a year, as high unemployment and a stalled recovery have dampened sentiment. The Investor's Business Daily and TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence survey revealed that their IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index retreated to a reading of 45.4 in March, down from February's reading of 46.8.

Looking further inside the IBD/TIPP index, a measurement of the personal financial outlook slipped by more than 5% to a reading of 50.7 in March, while the index's six-month outlook dropped 4.7% to a reading of 46.4. Although the six-month outlook looks bleak, it still remains 14.3 points higher than its lowest reading set back in December 2007.

The Labor Department revealed on Tuesday that the number of job openings in January increased substantially. Openings have risen more than 7.5% to 2.7M, compared to December's reading. Meanwhile, the job-opening rate, which measures available jobs as a percentage of total employment, increased by 2.1%.

The data also showed that there are currently about 5.5 unemployed workers competing for each job opening. Although the number is slightly better than the six people per job opening in December 2009, it still remains well above the 1.7 people per opening that was observed prior to the start of the economic recession.

As the driving season approaches, motorists could face a substantial increase in the price of gasoline. To kick of the week, the average retail price for gas has already matched its yearly highs in 2010, and could be well on its way to topping $3 a gallon by the spring.

By Tuesday, the national average price of gasoline advanced $0.006 to $2.759 a gallon, surpassing its yearly high of $2.7583 established on January 14. Within the last month, prices have increased by $0.102 and are now $0.814 higher than the price from this time last year.

The recent surge in prices was a direct result of the 18% increase in oil prices over the past month, which has pushed the price of crude to near its 2010 high of $83.95 a barrel. As of March 9, the price for a barrel of light, sweet crude for April delivery was priced at $81.49 a barrel.

The Forex markets saw the dollar trade higher versus the majority of the world's currencies. The 16-nation Euro declined against the greenback, buying $1.3601, lower than the previous session's price of $1.3633. The British pound also decreased versus the dollar as the sterling slipped from $1.5072 to $1.4998. However, the dollar did decrease in value against the Japanese yen, buying 89.95, down from Monday's value of 90.25.

Macroeconomic data picks up in the latter half of the week featuring Wholesale Inventories, Trade Balance and Business Inventory reports for January, weekly results for Initial Claims and Crude Inventories, the Treasury Budget and Retail Sales reports for February, and the Michigan Sentiment report for March.