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Stocks were mostly flat again on Friday as volatility has been low and trading ranges tight lately. The Dow lost just 20-points but because of the weak close, it felt technically worse than it was as you can see in the Friday intraday charts below. The small caps and International stocks held onto gains while the S&P slipped a few points.

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Stocks kept within a tight range to start the week off as anticipation of the FOMC meeting kept traders at bay. The Fed did raise rate basis 25 points and forecast two more rate hikes this year. Traders, most likely initiated by trading programs, bought the Fed rate hike and we saw decent rallies in stocks and bonds. The bulls failed to build on Wednesday's rally and instead we saw some profit taking to pull stock back a bit and again stocks ended the week in a tight trading range.

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Stocks opened modestly higher on Wednesday and accelerated to the upside after the FOMC rate hike announcement. There was a slight dip into the close so the indices ended the day off their highs, but the Dow gained 113-points with larger percentage gains in the broader indices.

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Investors showed some nerves in front of today's FOMC meeting and probable rate hike. The Dow lost 44-points on the day but once again we are seeing some buying into the close so the dip are out there. They just weren't being very enthusiastic the day before the Fed meeting.

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Neither the bulls nor the bears were willing to trade with any conviction yesterday as it was a quiet day in front of the two-day FOMC meeting which starts today. The indices were mixed with the Dow dipping 22-points, while the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and small cap posted small to modest gains. The Transportation stocks were down.

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