Ring of Fire

U.S. stock investors don’t know where to take cover with the constant market swings. Reeling from four straight weekly losses, are entering the coming week’s market torn between confidence in the global economic recovery and fear that foreign governments’ actions will bring the rebound to a sudden halt.

Investors have looked at the two sides and bet on safety, ultimately selling stocks to buy U.S. dollars, Gold and Treasury’s.

There is also the dark cloud looming that China will start to slow growth in its economy, and indirectly, other economies that have benefited from its appetite for energy and basic materials.

And at the same time, investors have grown concerned that high government debt levels in Greece, Spain and Portugal will lead to the type of spiraling financial crisis that froze credit markets two years ago.

The struggle between these opposing viewpoints has contributed to some heart-stopping swings in the last week.

The Dow made triple-digit moves in three of the last five trading sessions, tacking on 230 points by Tuesday’s close. The blue-chip average then gave back the entire advance, and then some, ending 0.6% lower for the week.

Along the way, the measure staged a late, sharp reversal Friday that brought the Dow from a 167-point loss to a 10-point gain by the finish, and a return above the key 10,000 level.

The S&P 500ended the week 0.7% lower at 1,066, with its weekly loss similarly moderated by solid gains early in the week.

Commodities tumbled last week, with their value as an alternative asset to paper currencies eroded by the dollar’s gains. Oil futures ended the week more than 1% lower, while gold futures lost nearly 2%.

Still, the index’s track record is looking tattered over a slightly longer period: It hadn’t posted four straight weekly declines since March 2009.

Investors face plenty of economic and corporate data in next few weeks that could sway sentiment either way.

As the week starts, investors may respond to press statements from the weekend’s G7 meeting of finance ministers in Canada.

Any deterioration in the financial situation in southern European nations also could overshadow U.S. events.