Stocks Settle Down, End Mixed

Markets took a breather today after several wild sessions and ended in mixed territory. Lousy news on consumer confidence and a big drop in home prices were balanced by surging commodity prices and Monsanto's stellar earnings report. The Dow ended down 16.04 at 12,532.60, the Nasdaq up 14.30 at 2,341.05, and the S&P 500 up 3.09 at 1,352.97.

"Prices across the commodity space dropped pretty dramatically" last week, an investment adviser told Bloomberg, "That gave investors like myself that pay attention to valuations an opportunity to start to build positions in names we like.'' The Dow swung back and forth between positive and negative territory at least 40 times during today's session. (More Monsanto stories.)