Next week is the big one for earnings. You've got Microsoft, Intel, all the banks.

I think we'll consolidate around these levels, maybe pull back a bit next week, but nothing much.

We've gone up nine days in a row. I think we're probably in for a brief pullback next week, probably in response to the Fed statement.

The market's at the top of a range here. The earnings reporting period basically ended with Dell and now the market is waiting for a new catalyst.

I would say in the next few weeks we can kind of grind in place, maybe a little to the upside. Maybe we'll get through the pre-announcement period without too much trouble, and then we'll get into third-quarter earnings in October, and they should be mostly in line.

I expect the story to be one of very good earnings. Things really get underway next week (week of April 17), but all signs now are pointing to a first quarter that is better than the historical average of 7 percent earnings growth.