Shuteye Friday

• That's a wrap for the week.  I went to work early for a 7am meeting (sheez).  I was at work late tonight working with a coworker trying to solve her problems so she can take off for Spring Break.  Not a problem, but I'm feeling it right now.
• It is also a wrap for the trading month, as March goes out like a lamb and the market is now basically flat for the year.  Don't you wish you were in money market funds all year and had skipped this back and forth gridlocked market?  In any case, we're heading into April which I believe has a bullish bias.  We have the first few trading days of the month hitting us as 401(k) adds get dollar-cost averaged into mutual funds.  More fuel for the bulls to try and take this up.  Me?  Still conservative.
• So on the way home tonight, I strayed from the veggie path and got some fish and chips, minus the chips.  Had it with some rice and a few veggies.  I think I was needing some comfort food.
• Investorgeeks on the 2% inflation target.
• More on the Fed, with Todd Harrison putting Bernanke's testimony in perspective.
• Is Sanjaya Malakar's American Idol run credible?  Maverick Web site www.votefortheworst.com (VFTW) claims much of the credit for "saving" Malakar on what it calls "America's largest karaoke contest."  The Web site's mission, picked up and promoted by radio shock jock Howard Stern, is to "have fun with 'American Idol' and embrace its suckiness" by encouraging people to vote en masse for the worst contestants.  Hey, I hope s/he stays on because at least it's funny to watch.
• Thinking about buying gold?  Mark Hulbert says to think twice.  As contrarians are fond of saying, bull markets like to climb a wall of worry. And what we've seen for much of March would be better characterized as jumping on a bullish bandwagon.
• From Larry Nusbaum, what are the financial events that point to an increase in wealth in America?  (The Red Sox winning in 2004?)
• Three months into the year, and the WSJ MarketBeat blog takes a look at where we are.  Three months into the year, there’s a big fork in the road. Markets have experienced the proverbial thrill and agony through the first quarter of 2007, thanks to the re-emergence of volatility and ever-changing expectations for the economy, monetary policy, earnings, weather, political events, and Sanjaya Malakar’s hairstyle.