U.S. markets were mixed most of Monday with what felt like very directionless trading on light volume. A selloff late in the day erased the small gains, and markets closed in the red today.

Another weak housing figure did not manage to cause too much harm as -- by now -- investors are conditioned to expect poor housing data. Consumer spending and income rose in February, topping expectations. U.S. investors also continued to expect that oil infrastructure would keep growing based upon Middle East build-outs for expanded production.

The stock market saw another gainful day despite a reading that consumer sentiment hit a year low. Portugal default fears grew and Japan saw what made for two years of price drops for its consumers. It was pretty impressive to see that most global markets rose on the day. Bond yields were higher and gold failed to reach yesterday's highs.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 12,220.59 +50.03 (0.41%)
S&P 500 1,313.80 +4.14 (0.32%)
Nasdaq 2,743.06 +6.64 (0.24%)

This post is part of Japan: A Special Report for Investors.

"Although some people may think it inappropriate, our job is to make readers aware of opportunities as they occur," says Glenn Rogers.

The contributing editor to Internet Wealth Builder explains, "Invariably, every major crisis creates such opportunities although they may only be suitable for aggressive investors. This one is no different.

"The question is: where to begin? Usually the best place to start is by looking at some of the securities that were hardest hit by the big sell-off that followed the disaster.

This post is part of Japan: A Special Report for Investors.

"The list of those hurt financially by the earthquake include the Japanese government (so don't buy Japan's government bonds), insurance companies (who will make up their losses through higher future premiums) and the unfortunate Japanese people themselves," says Martin Hutchinson.

The contributing editor to Money Morning explains, "Of course, even among listed companies, there will be some losers. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TKECY), or TEPCO, is the unfortunate owner of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station.

This post is part of Japan: A Special Report for Investors.

"Following the earthquake in Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index lost 18% in just 3 trading days, a worse decline than even the crash of 1987; the behavior of the iShares MSCI Japan Index ETF (EWJ) looks like a selling climax has occurred," says Marvin Appel.

The editor of Systems & Forecasts explains, "After a fast decline, the market bounced on unusually heavy volume. In this particular case, EWJ opened on March 15 with a loss of 7%. However, by the close, all of this loss was recouped on exceptionally heavy volume.

A great three day rally went from news and excitement to what was really just a dull quiet day for the market as a whole. Earnings and analysts drove some shares but the news of a downed airplane in Libya and more unrest growing in the Middle East region just failed to make markets move so much.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 12,018.63 -17.90 (-0.15%)
S&P 500 1,293.77 -4.61 (-0.36%)
Nasdaq 2,683.87 -8.22 (-0.31%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

A relief rally recovery is how you would describe Monday. The no-fly zone success of Libya over the weekend and the 'no more bad news' out of Japan were the two major contributors today. The US even announced that it would begin selling off the Treasury's $142 billion mortgage-backed securities portfolio.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels today:

Dow Jones 12,036.53 +178.01 (1.50%)
S&P 500 1,298.38 +19.18 (1.50%)
Nasdaq 2,692.09 +48.42 (1.83%)

Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund (EWJ) closed down 0.2% after selling off 11% in early morning trading on Japan radiation leak concerns. April put option implied volatility of 44 is above its six-month average of 21, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index-VIX is up 15.1% to 24.32 on 662,000 call contracts, 319,000 puts.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund (EWJ) closed lower on the affects of the Northern Japan earthquake. Overall option implied volatility of 25 is above its 26-week average of 21, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Sony (SNE) also closed lower on the affects of the Northern Japan earthquake. Overall option implied volatility of 28 is below its 26-week average of 31, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.