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Today was a rather disappointing day on the street if you are a bull. There have been too many of these types of strong morning rallies and an afternoon selloff lately. Early this afternoon the Dow was higher by 150 and the Nasdaq by more than 20. By the end of the trading day today the Dow was higher by 41 points, but the Nasdaq was lower by almost 13. The S&P 500 squeaked out a gain of 1.28 points, or 0.09%.

The stronger sector today was once again energy. Energy stocks were strong as oil prices closed at another record high, finishing higher by a little over $1 on the day. Several energy companies closed at new 52 week highs as well. Canadian Natural Resource Ltd (NYSE:CNQ) closed higher by 2.86% and hit a new 52 week high. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) shares edged higher by 0.78% and hit a new high. Talisman Energy (NYSE:TLM) hit a new high after gaining 2.01% today. Noble Corporation (NYSE:NE) and Suncor (NYSE:SU) also hit new highs, gaining 1.22% and 2.67% respectively.

Financials lagged the overall market again today, with most finishing lower. Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) closed down 1.62% on the day as most of the big banks weakened throughout the session. JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) also lost 1.16% on the day. The brokerage names were weak today as well. Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER) lost 2.33% on average volume today. The exchanges showed some weakness today as well. Nasdaq (Nasdaq:NDAQ) shares lost 3.28% and NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) lost 1.27% on the day.

Notable 52 week highs

• Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) Ramped higher early in the day, only to fall back to a slight gain of 0.33%.
• Ariba (Nasdaq:ARBA) Shares jumped higher by 5.97% on huge volume today.
• Plains Exploration and Production (NYSE:PXP) This independent oil and gas charged hgiher by 5.12% on strong volume.
• General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) This defense name added 1.8% on the day today and hit a new high.

It should also be noted that the volume on the major exchanges has been quite weak through the recent rebound, which is at least somewhat concerning. It seems there certainly is a lack of conviction with the rebound. I am a little concerned that the market may be getting ahead of itself in projecting an economic rebound. Many in the business, including JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon, are saying that they believe the recession is just beginning. It seems the market is expecting the economic downturn to be very short and sweet, and I'm concerned that won't necessarily be the case. Don't be surprised if we see a rough period in the markets again sometime in the next few months, before a more aggressive and long-term rebound sometime at the very end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009.