Stocks pressed higher earlier in the session thanks to Bernanke’s continued optimism that the US economy won’t sink into a double dip. Beyond that, his comments were rather cautious, pointing to an anticipated slowdown in housing after the end of the government stimulus, and the continued expectation that the recovery in jobs will take “a significant amount of time”. The flip side of this caution is that it likely ensures the Fed will stick to its policy of exceptionally low rates for an extended period of time. The market was also bolstered by a report out of Reuters that Chinese exports would surge by 50% in May. Expectations were for a gain of 35%. The bad news weighed on the later half of the session, and it was all “political”. The BP oil spill is giving congressional leaders an opportunity to push for an extension of the moratorium, and plans to raise the cap on BP’s financial responsibility. That hit the energy sector. With the Financial reform deadline of July 4^th approaching, calls for tighter regulations have the financial community worried. The XLF gave up 1%. Finally, Chancellor Merkel made a comment that it was time to withdraw the stimulus, as it only buys time for the Euro-zone, highlighting Europe’s problems. Figuring the comments would lead to a negative open today, traders sold the close. However, a pension fund in China said it will be making investments in Greece and the Euro can withstand the debt crisis giving our market a boost this morning.