The U.S. Federal Reserve will tell a group of 31 banks whether they can go ahead with planned shareholder payouts or whether they need to retain their capital to boost buffers. In the second stage of Fed stress test, qualitative criteria is used to assess how well banks manage their risk. The U.S.

Here are the reasons: Dollar reaches multi-year highs boosted by Fed rate hike view Lingering concern over Greece adds to bearish tone, hits stocks China CPI lands above forecast but producer prices still falling

A couple of billion-dollar deals pushed indexes higher. The dollarfell against the euro on profit taking, while gold futures steadied. Treasuries surged as the ECB started its bond-buying program.Brent dropped, while U.S. crude gained.

Last week we were looking to the Friday Employment Numbers to help guide the way for the market. Friday’s numbers came out in spectacular fashion but the market had a less than spectacular reaction. Last month the United States added 295,000 jobs which has made for the best stretch of job creation since the 1990s.

There is a sigh of relief as revised GDP came at 2.2% vs. consensus of 2.1%, and more importantly whisper numbers of less than 2.0%.  This means the American economy is staying strong. Massive buying of gold in China continues.