In the 30 days that stocks have rallied from the March low, gains have been large - historic, even. But almost all of them came during the first 15 days of the rally. In the second 15 days, the S&P 500 has made barely any progress. That raises the potential that buyers have become exhausted. Historically, front-loaded rallies have not performed worse than ones that were more back-loaded.; Gold mining stocks have soared relative to the broader stock market, with the NYSE Arca Gold Miner index reaching new 52-week highs relative to the S&P 500. At the same time, the S&P 500 Financials index has slid close to a 52-week low. That kind of divergence seems like it should be an ominous sign, but its record has been mixed over the past 35 years.

---