Stocks pulled themselves out of the red and closed in positive territory as treasury bonds closed down slightly lower.

Jobless claims numbers were not great but it is too early to tell whether or not a trend has been established.

The tone in the markets felt a little shaky this morning when stocks were in the red; whether or not this is a case of "Sell in May and go away" or something more ominous remains to be seen.

The only constant appears to be a lack of conviction on the part of most players.

Visibility past the end of May is murky.

More likely than not, however, there will be a de facto QE (quantitative easing) following the official end of QE2.

Fed language remains relatively broad regarding the length of time that principal will be re-deployed in securities; a rapid shrinking of the Fed's balance sheet is unlikely.

The corporate bond new issue market was very quiet today with the market just about beginning to digest the heavy volumes earlier in the week.

There may be a couple more deals tomorrow to cap off the week but other than that flows should be light.

Utility Southern California Edison (EIX) sold $500 million of 10 year FMB (first mortgage bond) secured corporate paper at +75.

As one of the sole deals today (and high-quality at that), the issue was heavily oversubscribed by real money investors with some chunky orders reported from West Coast players.

CPI (consumer price index) inflation and University of Michigan confidence numbers are out tomorrow.