EDITOR'S NOTE
Investors may be starting to feel a kinship with the cargo ship that finds itself jammed into both sides of the Suez Canal, blocking billions of dollars in trade.
The U.S. stock market has churned with no clear motivation over the past week, with neither the Dow nor the S&P 500 able to put together a streak of more than two-days in either direction since March 15. The trend of the Nasdaq Composite moving inverse of bond yields has broken down. 
The reason why the market is seemingly treading water is unclear. With the end of March approaching, month- and quarter-end rebalancing could be causing ripple effects that make trendlines less distinct.
To be sure, the major indexes are still fairly close to their record highs. Further, the period of calm comes after a string of catalysts, including stimulus, fourth-quarter earnings and the initial rollout of the Covid-19 vaccines.
In the weeks ahead, policymakers in Washington will continue to debate a potential multi-trillion dollar infrastructure proposal along with a tax plan to pay for at least part of it. Another batch of corporate earnings is just around the corner.
"Markets either rally before earnings season, during earnings season or after earnings season. They don't rally in all three phases," said David Waddell, the CEO of wealth strategy firm Waddell and Associates. "So I think we're just waiting on earnings season."
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