Weakness plagues the markets so far this week as the major indices pullback from record highs. After last weeks volatile moves which ultimately ended at highs the S&P 500 (SPY  ) finds itself about 1.5% off the highs, struggling to find buyers at these prices. For the year though the story is still all about gains. The SPY is higher by around 17% with only a few weeks left in 2017.

The Nasdaq 100 (QQQ  ) has been a little more volatile so far. Monday the tech heavy index sold off hard and by Tuesday the little attempt at a recovery failed. Contrary to the SPY the selling pressure in the QQQ has been more aggressive. For the year though the QQQ has plenty of gains to boast, showing almost 30%.

Bonds (TLT  ) have moved back towards highs as investors chose some protection from the markets recent volatility. Though choppy, technical traders note the slight uptrend forming which has many predicting that the highs of September may be tested again. For the year the TLT has a small gain of 7.5%.

OIl (USO  ) continues it's upward push as OPEC cuts remain in effect for now. Crude Oil inventories are due which may be just the catalyst to push the USO through the long term resistance area around $12. For the year USO is still in the red but the real excitement has been since the summer. The USO has managed to bounce over 30% from the lows set in June.

Lastly, retail (XRT  ) stocks seem to be taking a breather this week after an impressive move off lows seen over the last few weeks. As we get closer to the Christmas holiday, any positive news of consumer spending will be just what some of the beaten down retail names need to see for further growth.