Happy Tax Day

Happy Tax Day. I expect to hear more than the usual amount of debates in the media this year about who messed up and complicated our tax system is, and how badly it is in need of reform. I totally agree, but I am not that optimistic that we will see meaningful reform anytime in the near future.

Back to the markets, stocks started the session off lower, but have since rallied back into positive territory. There were a handful of strong earnings reports last night and this morning, which has helped bolster bullish sentiment. Companies like UPS, JB Hunt (JBHT) and YUM Brands (YUM) all posted better than expected results, and their stocks are rallying higher. UPS also raised guidance for the year.

In economic news, industrial production for March rose a smaller than expected +0.1%, but the Empire State Manufacturing survey hit a five-month high at 31.9.

Asian markets were higher overnight. China announced that its Q1 GDP grew at the torrid pace of 11.9%. That is some serious growth, but China's market was flat as those results rekindled concern about tighter monetary policy to keep things from overheating.

The dollar is higher today on weakness in the euro again. Oil is bucking the trend, and hovering just below $86, while gold is off a buck or so near $1157.

The 10-year yield is down slightly to 3.84%; and the VIX is up +1.6% to a still low level of 15.85.

Trading comment: My cautiousness of late may seem unwarranted in the face of this relentless bullish stampede in the market, but such is life. That is why we only take partial profits during an uptrend, to let our remaining positions ride in case the market keeps rallying.

That said, the put/call ratio fell yesterday to 0.56, its lowest level in some time. With bullishness and complacency on the rise, I still think there is sufficient risk right now for a correction, so I am trying to sit on my hands and wait to put my cash to work at lower levels.

Google (GOOG) is on tap tonight for earnings. I will be covering the call for TheStreet.com, and will post a copy of my earnings recap here tomorrow.

long GOOG