volatility

As 2010 draws to a close, it looks like 2011 is likely to be another wild year for the stock market. Fear not: Here are some tips from T. Rowe Price portfolio managers on how careful investors can take advantage of drops and rebounds in the coming year.

Goldman Sachs is expected to report a sharp drop in third-quarter earnings early Tuesday, due to a decline in trading activity in a market that's been light on volume for months. Goldman is forecast to report adjusted earnings of $2.28 a share.

A new report says the majority of investors now see any positive gain in their portfolio at all as an investing success. And nearly a quarter of investors believe that simply breaking even is a cause for celebration.

Having hit 1,150 on Friday, the S&P 500 is now at a crossroad: Will it fall back, or continue marching up to the next technical target around 1,200? No one chart can say for sure, but here are some points to be aware of -- and to watch in coming days.

It's no secret that stock investors have suffered through roller-coaster volatility this year for little or no return, while bond investors have been having a ball. The longest-dated Treasury mutual funds have returned nearly 20%. Stocks, meanwhile, have done zilch.

Equity investors have ample reason to be frustrated these days. The S&P 500 has hovered around 1,080 since mid-May, but it hasn't been a quiet ride. Oliver Pursche, president of Gary Goldberg Financial Services, talks about how you can smooth out the bumps of short-term volatility.

Stocks took an uncomfortably circuitous route to posting broad-based gains Tuesday, as a better-than-expected outlook on global recovery from Australia's central bank was tested by the bond market's bleaker assessment of the U.S. economy.

With no major news on the calendar ahead of next week's start of second-quarter earnings season, longer-term investors should have more sway in a market that's been technically driven for months. That could mean fewer wild swings, at least for a while.

On Friday, after the market closes, the Russell Investment Group will announce how it will rebalance its indexes in the annual event known as the Russell Reconstitution, the ripple effects of which will be felt as a brief, high-energy tremor through the stock markets.

Why do time-outs on stock trading make sense? A simple manual cross-check of prices can help mitigate volatility "if things get out of whack," says Doreen Mogavero of Mogavero Lee & Co. in a video interview from the NYSE.