The Dow topped the 18,000 for the first time since July, 2015 as it closed up over 106 points today. Oil prices were down 58 cents, or 1.4 percent, at $39.78 a barrel. Crude fell more than 6.5 percent overnight after oil producers meeting in Doha, Qatar yesterday failed to reach an agreement on an output freeze agreement. A deal to put a limit on oil output by OPEC and non-OPEC refineries collapsed after Saudi Arabia insisted that Iran join in despite calls on Saudi Arabia to save the agreement and help prop up oil  prices.  Read more as to why the oil deal might have fallen apart here.

Meanwhile, speculation as to when the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee will raise interest rates again simmered in the minds of the experts as the President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank William Dudley said today-

“Normalization of monetary policy will likely remain gradual and cautious due to significant uncertainties and continued headwinds to growth from the financial crisis.”

See more from CNN/Money about the market’s volatile first quarter in 2016 below.

Here are the final numbers from Monday, 4/18/16 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 18,004.16  (+106.70 / +0.60 %)

NASDAQ: 4.960.02  (+21.80 / +0.44 %)

S&P 500: 2,094.34 (+13.61 / +0.65%)

Usually April 15th is the day when tax filings are due to the Internal Revenue Service, but because today is “Emancipation Day” Americans have a reprieve until this Monday, April 18th to file their Federal and State tax returns.

The IRS is observing a holiday that is usually only observed in Washington, DC. Emancipation Day marks the day that the Compensated Emancipation Act was signed by President Abraham Lincoln and is observed on April 16. Emancipation Day is a legal holiday in DC, and public employees are given the day off work. However, because April 16, 2016, falls on a Saturday, it is celebrated on the closest weekday, which is today, Friday April 15.

Americans will still have to work until April 24th to earn enough money, on average, to pay what we owe the government this year, according to the Tax Foundation, a tax policy research group. This year, the Tax Foundation estimates that Americans will pay $5 trillion in federal, state and local taxes — that’s about 31% percent of the nation’s income.

With that being said, oil along with financial & tech stocks brought the markets down today.  In advance of the important OPEC meeting this weekend U.S. crude oil futures settled down $1.14, or 2.75 percent at $40.36 a barrel. Apple and Goldman Sachs led the decliners on the Dow. Apple fell more than 1.5% percent following a report that the company will reduce production of the iPhone because of sluggish sales.

Also today Republican Presidential candidate Ted Cruz explained to CNBC’s “Squawk Box” why he thinks a stock market crash is coming.

Here are the final numbers from Friday, 4/15/16 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,897.39  (-29.04 / -0.16 %)

NASDAQ: 4.938.22  (-7.67 / -0.16 %)

S&P 500: 2,080.73 (-2.05 / -0.10%)

Stocks eked out some meager gains today but much of the focus was on a report from federal regulators that says five of the biggest banks in the U.S. have inadequate plans in case of failure, potentially leaving them unable to cope with financial distress without another taxpayer bailout. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Bank of New York Mellon and State Street were cited by the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for holes in their bankruptcy plans known as “living wills” that they were required to submit. The 5 banks were among eight Wall Street giants whose plans were evaluated.

The two agencies found the five banks’ plans are-

“Not credible or insufficient for an orderly restructuring in bankruptcy.”

The regulators gave the banks an Oct. 1st deadline to fix the problems or face possible “more stringent” requirements.

Meantime Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay $5 billion to settle claims by the U.S. Justice Department that it misled investors about the quality of home loans included in mortgage-backed securities the firm sold before the financial crisis of 2008. The settlement includes a $2.39 billion civil penalty, $1.8 billion in consumer relief and $875 million to resolve claims by other federal regulators and the states. The amount of the fine levied on Goldman Sachs ranks among the lowest by regulators against Wall Street firms such as JPMorgan Chase , Bank of America and Morgan Stanley.

According to a new survey, most Americans think the economy is getting worse. Watch below.

Here are the final numbers from Thursday, 4/14/16 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,926.43  (+18.15 / +0.10 %)

NASDAQ: 4.945.89  (-1.53 / -0.03 %)

S&P 500: 2,082.78 (+0.36 / +0.02 %)

Markets were up today as JP Morgan’s earnings beat Wall Street’s predictions and an overseas rally in China followed some encouraging trade data. The Dow closed at a 5 month high and financial stocks led the way.

Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management explained today’s rally this way:

“Earnings and China seem to be outweighing soft retail sales. Near-term bias for stocks is to approach the upper end of a trading range, while the expectations are low and companies appear to be beating expectations.”

As referred to, today’s gains on the market came despite some data suggesting the contrary.

According to the Associated Press:

“U.S. retail sales fell last month as Americans cut back on their car purchases, the latest sign that consumers are reluctant to spend freely. The Commerce Department says sales at retail stores and restaurants fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent in March, following a flat reading in February and a drop in January. Americans have been more cautious about spending this year than most economists expected, despite steady job gains and lower gas prices. That’s a key reason why analysts now think the economy barely expanded in the first quarter. March’s decline was largely driven by a sharp drop in auto sales, which plunged 2.1 percent. That was the steepest fall in more than a year. Sales at restaurants and clothing stores also retreated. In addition U.S. producer prices fell in March for the fifth time in the past eight months, reflecting a drop in food prices which offset the biggest increase in energy prices in 10 months. Even with the increase in energy, inflation remained at modest levels.”

See more from CNBC’s “Street Cred” below.

Here are the final numbers from Wednesday, 4/13/16 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,908.28  (+187.03 / +1.06 %)

NASDAQ: 4.947.42  (+75.33 / +1.55 %)

S&P 500: 2,082.42 (+20.70 / +1.00 %)

An increase in the price of oil and strong showings within the financial industry gave stocks a boost today. The Dow Jones industrial average added more than 160 points with Chevron and Goldman Sachs leading the Dow.  Oill rose 4.5% closing at $42 per barrel (a 2016 high) following a report that oil producers in Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to freeze crude output ahead of an important OPEC meeting this weekend.

Lorraine Tan, Director of Equity Research in Asia for Morningstar expects oil prices to rise over the next two years.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker told Reuters news that he supports raising interest rates again as the U.S. economy strengthens. and that it’s still possible for the Fed to raise rates three times this year if the data allows.

Here are the final numbers from Tuesday, 4/12/16 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,721.25  (+164.84 / +.94 %)

NASDAQ: 4.872.09  (+38.69 / +0.80 %)

S&P 500: 2,061.72 (+19.73 / +0.97 %)

Today marked the start of earnings season as major corporations began reporting their 1st quarter-2016 profits. Many analysts are expecting a disappointing first quarter.  Today’s Wall Street Journal explained why “Earnings Season” will be as bad as Wall Street expects. Read the story here.

According to a report on CNBC one word that many Wall Street CEOs are focusing on is: Liquidity.  Meaning- the more liquid assets an investor has, the more they’ll be able to better deal with unforeseen financial challenges in the future.

See more below.

Here are the final numbers from Monday, 4/11/16 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,556.41  (-20.55/ -.12 %)

NASDAQ: 4.843.30  (-17.29/ -0.36 %)

S&P 500: 2,041.99 (-5.61/ -0.27 %)

Despite rallying late in the day and finishing with some small gains, stocks suffered their worst week since February thanks to persistent worry over the strength of the global economy and the continued rise of the Yen against the U.S. dollar.
Stephen Freedman, senior investment strategist at UBS Wealth Management Americas told CNBC-

“Generally speaking it’s still an environment where the market is somewhat still fragile. The Japanese currency really shouldn’t be a big driver of U.S. stocks but the currency move likely had greater impact due to lack of major U.S. news.”

Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group said today-

“The yen is very symbolic. It’s a sign a central bank is losing control. They’re losing control of markets. Markets are losing faith in their abilities.”

Some economists now think that growth in the first-quarter of 2016 was non-existent and it could easily turn out to be a negative first three months of the year.

See more from CNBC’s “The Santelli Exchange” below.

Here are the final numbers from Friday, 4/8/16 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,576.96  (+35.00/ +.20 %)

NASDAQ: 4.850.69  (+2.32/ +0.05 %)

S&P 500: 2,047.60 (+5.69/ +0.28 %)

An extremely volatile day on Wall Street saw markets suffer big losses as the S&P 500 gave back all of its gains for 2016 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered triple digit losses.  The fact that the Japanese Yen continued its strength against the U.S. dollar increased worries about global growth and whether or not the Federal Reserve’s fiscal policy has been effective enough.

Dr. Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial told CNBC that she attributed much of the declines today to profit-taking in an overall risk-off environment ahead of earnings season.

“The currency markets are dominating overall market moves and anytime you see an important move in one currency or another from a currency market it seems to cause nervousness in equity markets”

According to Wall Street experts, two critical trends that have helped the stock market recently are coming to an end, posing significant challenges for investors.

See more below.

Here are the final numbers from Thursday, 4/7/16 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,541.96  (-174.09/ -.98 %)

NASDAQ: 4.848.37  (-72.35/ -1.47 %)

S&P 500: 2,041.91 (-24.75/ -1.20 %)

For the second day in a row Wall Street was singing the blues as financial stocks and falling oil prices led decliners. The S&P 500 dropped 1% eliminating most of its gains this year, while the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. suffered its first triple digit loss in almost a month (March 8th).

There also came word from Standard and Poor’s fixed income research team that more debt-laden companies have defaulted over the past 12 months. The default rate for high-yield bonds has now risen to the highest level in 6 years, and junk bonds could soon spell big trouble for investors.

Diane Vazza, S&P’s head of global fixed income research made a eye-opening prediction today.

“Defaults are only likely to increase over the rest of the year. The 12-month rate will rise to 3.9 percent by December and in a pessimistic but plausible chain of events, the default rate could rise to 5.2%.”

Watch the whole story from CNBC below.

In addition to the news about bond defaults, a bigger than expected trade deficit prompted economists to reduce their forecast for 1st quarter growth.

See CNBC’s Senior Economics reporter Steve Leiseman explain below.

Here are the final numbers from Tuesday, 4/5/16 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,603.32  (-133.68/ -.75 %)

NASDAQ: 4.843.93  (-47.86/ -0.98 %)

S&P 500: 2,045.17 (-20.96/ -1.01 %)

The first trading day of the week was a downer for investors as the volatile price of oil continued to exert its influence on the markets. U.S. crude oil settled at $35.70 a barrel, down $1.09 or 2.96 percent, ending at its lowest level since March 4th. What’s causing fluctuating oil prices? Watch below.

Meantime, the first quarter of 2016 proved to be another tough one for stock pickers.

“Fewer than 1 in 5 large-cap funds beat the S&P 500, the lowest level since at least 1998. For growth-focused funds, the news was even worse: Just a 6 percent beat rate at a time when the S&P benchmark has gained just over 1 percent year to date.”

Read more from CNBC’s Jeff Cox here.

Some analysts say that after a pretty good month or so it may be time to get out of commodities. Watch below.

Here are the final numbers from M0nday, 4/4/16 on Wall Street:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 17,737.00  (-55.75/ -.31 %)

NASDAQ: 4.891.79  (-22.75/ -0.46 %)

S&P 500: 2,066.13 (-6.65/ -0.32 %)