Last week there were more NEGATIVE than POSITIVE developments, but the stock market “climbed this wall of worry” to post a solid increase.

Below is a succinct list of last week’s events:

Positives:
1) Bernanke in his press conference implicitly says the end of QE2 in no way means tightening soon to follow
2) Univ of Michigan and Conference Board confidence #’s up a touch in April
3) New Home Sales a punk 300k but higher than expected
4) Pending Home Sales rise 5.1%
5) Milwaukee joins NY mfr’g survey as exceeding forecasts
6) China HSBC pmi holds steady

Negatives:
1) Chicago, Dallas and Richmond mfr’g surveys below estimates
2) Initial Claims disappoint for 3rd week, 4 week avg back above 400k
3) Durable goods orders ex transports bit below est (but prior month revised up)
4) MBA said purchases fell 13.6% to 2 month low
5) Inflation expectations in confidence data remain elevated
6) Gasoline prices up another $.05 to within $.20 of record high
7) Euro zone CPI up to 2.8%
9) Portugal, Ireland, and Greece yields continue to spike