According to the government data released last Wednesday, economic growth was stagnant during the first three months of the year.  GDP grew at a measly 0.1 percent annual rate, below even the most modest forecasts.  Economists cautioned however, that the GDP report is the government's first swipe at estimating growth during the first quarter; the numbers will be revised two more times in the coming weeks as additional information is collected.

Also, the Fed said last week that the "recovery" in the housing sector remained slow.  The Fed has been buying billions of dollars a month in bonds for the past 18 months in an effort to bring down long-term interest rates and boost the real estate market.  The program pushed mortgage rates to historic lows, but they have since risen almost a percentage point over the past year after the Fed began hinting it would start scaling back that effort.

All in all, we are still in a wait and see mode.  Stay tuned.