Consumer Confidence saw a huge drop for March, but that failed to hurt the markets as it was largely expected. Housing prices continued south according to national housing survey data from Case Shiller. International stock markets saw a mixed bag on Tuesday, but U.S. investors continued to sit there, buying stocks. Maybe the real catalyst is the fact that very few companies have formally lowered guidance despite the turmoil.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones: 12,279.01 + 81.13 (0.67%)

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

"The Japanese market was already among the most beaten down in the world, even before the earthquake; the Nikkei 225 stock index now has has presented investors with some bargains," notes global specialist Nicholas Vardy.

The editor of The Global Bull Market Alert explains, "Our latest recommendation is based on an expected bounce in the Japanese stock market through one of its biggest and most liquid stocks, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM).

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.

"Few people know exactly how long it will take Japan to recover and rebuild, nor the full impact of the destruction in the world's third-largest economy," says Louis Basenese.

The contributing editor to Investment U advises, "In the short term, expect volatility to be the norm; but if you're a long-term investor there are reasons for bullishness:

"First, Japan is cheap. Even before the earthquake hit, Japan was one of the world's cheapest markets with the average stock on the TOPIX trading at a price-to-book ratio of 1.0 -- a 56% discount to the average U.S. stock.

Monday could have been far worse. Japan led things south with news that the nuclear reactors were not shut down and could pose serious risks ahead. This sent Japan's NIKKEI 225 down more than 6% and back under the dreaded 10,000 mark. US markets held up better than expected, while news that Saudi troops were being asked to enter into protect Bahrain's infrastructure sent oil back up. US markets came back from larger losses late in the session.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,993.16 -51.24 (-0.43%)
S&P 500 1,296.39 -7.89 (-0.60%)
Nasdaq 2,700.97 -14.64 (-0.54%)

Top analyst upgrades and downgrades
Top Japanese fund, ETF, and ADR movers

Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) were running smoothly this afternoon. At the time of this writing, they were up 3.3% to $87.96. That wasn't too far away from the new 52-week high of $89.31 that was set earlier in the session.

Driving the move was a third-quarter earnings report. According to the Associated Press, net income declined by 39%. While that may not be something investors would want to buy, here's the part of the story that they apparently are giving a bid: management increased its outlook for the full-year profit, expecting it to come in at around $6 billion instead of $4.3 billion.

Things look to be pretty quiet on the economic calendar this week. Here are the highlights:

• Tuesday: Weekly chain-store sales
• Wednesday: Federal budget balance for January
• Thursday: Wholesale trade data in December
• Friday: Trade balance in December and the weekly inflation survey

However, three iconic companies -- Walt Disney (DIS), Coca-Cola (KO) and Hasbro (HAS) -- highlight this week's quarterly results. Here's a look at what analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are anticipating from these and others.

Friday's fourth-quarter GDP numbers offered more evidence that the economy is picking up steam, but one of the biggest obstacles to the recovery remains the stubbornly high unemployment rate. We'll find out whether there's been any movement on that front when employment data for January comes out this week. The Challenger Job-Cut report and ADP employment data are due Wednesday, and the government's unemployment rate on Friday. Another mild increase in jobs is expected, in line with the three-month average, but not enough to significantly reduce the unemployment rate.

Also look for the ISM manufacturing and nonmanufacturing indexes this week, as well as the Chicago PMI and the New York NAPM index. And Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak to the National Press Club on Thursday.

December is traditionally a slow month for auto sales. Most people are caught up with holiday shopping and tend to put off large purchases.

This year was different. December auto sales were higher for most makers, Toyota being the exception. Here are the numbers by company, as reported by CNNMoney:

Japanese automaker Toyota (TM) announced that it has agreed to pay a record $32.4 million in further fines to the U.S. government to settle an investigation into the way it handled recent recalls.

The company's board of directors agreed to the fines Monday at its board meeting in Japan, and it will not admit to any violations of U.S. laws. Unfortunately for Toyota, this move will not exempt the company from potential civil and criminal penalties in private lawsuits and other federal investigations.

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler, said that Chrysler plans to introduce a Fiat in the U.S. powered by natural gas. Bloomberg/Businessweek quotes Marchionne: "Natural gas engines offer a better way to cut emissions because they are cheaper than competing technologies."

Fiat is the leader in Europe in natural gas engines with 80% share of methane powered cars and 55% of light commercial vehicles. Alfredo Altavilla, quoted in Bloomberg/Businessweek said natural gas is a "more affordable solution" as it is less expensive to produce transport and distribute compared with other fuel sources.

It will be a busy week. Republicans are poised to gain control of the House of Representatives and gain governorships in Tuesday's mid-term elections. Also, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce another round of quantitative easing Wednesday, following the FOMC meeting. Major retailers are scheduled to report October same-store sales Thursday, while the October unemployment rate, announced on Friday, is expected to remain at 9.6%.

Toyota's (TM) fiscal second-quarter results will be one of the highlights on the earnings front this week. After three periods of way underestimating Toyota's earnings, have the analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters got it right this time? The stock sure could use a boost. Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) is in a similar situation; i.e., high expectations for this week's quarterly results but a stock in need of a boost. Marathon (MRO) and Starbucks (SBUX) are also expected to post strong earnings growth this week, but both stocks are riding high.

Sales for most major auto makers were down in September from August, as reported by MSNBC. Ford (F) was the standout with sales up 2%. Here are the numbers for the other companies:

• General Motors (GM) sales declined 3%.
• Chrysler was up less than 1%.
• Toyota (TM) fell less than 1%.
• Nissan (NSANY) was down 3%.

There is some solid evidence building that a recovery is beginning. The broader data points like unemployment, housing starts, and consumer spending aren't showing them yet. The reason for hope of a real recovery lies more in sectors that are often precursors to economic growth.

The first industry showing real strength is technology. Apple (AAPL) reported great numbers ($3.51 vs. $2.01 last year in the third quarter -- fiscal year ends in September). Revenues were $15.7 billion vs. $9.73 billion last year. Management is forecasting $3.44 per share for the fourth quarter and $18 billion in sales. iPods and iPads were very popular the last three months. Another tech giant that wowed investors: Intel (INTC). It set a new record for quarterly earnings. IBM (IBM) showed advances in sales and profits, though a little less than hoped. Semiconductor companies, beside Intel, can't make their integrated circuits fast enough as demand for mobile devices such as cellphones continue to grow. Clearly, the tech sector is enjoying boom times.