MarketWatch rounded up the 10 most important news events of the past week. We focused on market-related issues, but we’ve included other subjects of interest to readers.

West Texas crude oil CLH25, for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was positioned for its first weekly loss in a month on Friday, but it was a pretty good week for oil stocks. The S&P 500 SPX, -1.11% energy sector saw a one-week gain of 1.2% through Thursday, while the oil and gas drilling subsector rose 4.3% and the oil and gas equipment and services subsector added 3.5%.

Myra Saefong reported on Wednesday that “a rebound is in the cards” for oil prices, possibly in May, based on technical analysis and interviews with market strategists. She also discussed the above photo, which shows about 20 oil rigs that may have been stacked in a standing position to save space, as producers take rigs out of service in an attempt to lower production and build demand.

Then again, Tim Mullaney shared five reasons to bet against a big rebound in crude, including a continued rise in U.S. production. Reports of a continued rise in U.S. oil inventories supported Mullaney’s view.

Cody Willard, who has long position in physical gold coins, discussed why he doesn’t see “any reason to try to game a bottom,” for oil. He sees gold as a much better bet for a commodity rebound. With low current production, “you’ve basically got the exact opposite setup for gold as you do for oil,” he said.

2. Greece

Difficult negotiations over Greece’s bailout from the European Central Bank and other eurozone nations appeared to have led to an agreement on Friday, according to reports.

The apparent agreement followed a request by Greece’s government on Wednesday for an extension to its bailout agreement, which is scheduled to end at the end of February, and a quick rejection by Germany, with Martin Jaeger, spokesman for German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, saying, “The letter from Athens ... aims for a bridging loan without meeting the terms of the program.”

The market reaction to the continued impasse in Europe and the United States was calm, but even if the financial fallout from a possible Greek default on debt or exit from the euro EURUSD, -0.06% won’t be as serious as some have feared, there’s a risk that the change in the political landscape in Greece could spread to Spain, according to William Watts.

David Marsh described a “trump card” held by Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, which is the possibility of using capital controls to limit withdrawals from Greek banks.

Matthew Lynn expressed a pretty strong opinion that Greece may ultimately be bailed out by the United States.

3. Cease-fires tend to be word games

There were happy headlines last Thursday, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin came to an agreement for a cease-fire between Russian-speaking separatists and the Ukraine government on Sunday. Of course, the plan for an extra three-days of fighting before the cease-fire was to take effect raised plenty of questions about the real meaning of the agreement.

As is typical following a cease-fire agreement between parties that remain belligerent, the fighting resumed, as the rebels overran Debaltseve on Wednesday, as Ukraine forces withdrew.

4. Sell Amazon?

Shares of Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -1.78% were up 22% year-to-date through Thursday’s close at $379, driven by a 15% increase in fourth-quarter sales.

Amazon’s stock has long been a “special case,” trading at very high price-to-earnings ratios, because investors and analysts focus on its continued dominance in online retail and double-digit sales growth. The company lost 52 cents a share during 2014, and analysts polled by FactSet expect EPS for 2015 to come in at 28 cents, rising to $2.12 in 2016 and to $6.17 in 2017. The shares trade for 178.6 times the 2016 EPS estimate, which compares to a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 15.5 for the S&P 500. Even if you go out to 2017, the shares trade at a multiple of 61.4.

Jeff Reeves said Amazon investors should sell now.

5. Wal-Mart gives a raise to half a million employees

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT, -1.02% announced its fourth-quarter results on Thursday, with earnings per share rising 12.5% to $1.53, while revenue rose 1.5% to $131.6 billion. Wal-Mart said adjusted EPS was $1.61, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54, but revenue missed analysts’ expectations of $132.5 billion, and the company’s outlook for th first quarter was weak.

But the big news for Wal-Mart was the company’s announcement that it would raise pay for its U.S. employees to a minimum of $9 per hour by April. The company will also begin raising pay of department managers over the summer.

Tomi Kilgore pointed out that Wal-Mart’s generosity followed years of court battles.

Wal-Mart’s shares pulled back 3% on Thursday to close at $83.52. The shares are down 3% this year, following a 12% total return, with dividends reinvested, during 2014. The stock trades for 16.1 times the consensus 2016 EPS estimate of $5.19.

Jefferies analyst Daniel Binder rates Wal-Mart a “hold,” and on Thursday lowered his price target for the shares to $77 from $82, while lowering his 2015 EPS estimate to $4.98 from $5.23 and his 2016 EPS estimate to $5.15 from $5.59. In a note to clients, Binder said the wage increases “reflect a need to close the gap with other retailers such as Costco and unionized grocers,” and signal a change in direction for the company, following “a period of underinvestment, heavy public scrutiny and a management change at the top and in the Walmart division.”

One of the most popular MarketWatch articles this week was What not to buy at Target and Walmart,” by Catey Hill.

6. Should you fear rising interest rates?

The market yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes TMUBMUSD10Y, 0.701% was down five basis points to 2.07% early on Friday, which is down from 2.17% at the end of 2014 and 3.04% at the end of 2013. Many investors expected long-term interest rates to rise significantly as the Federal Reserve brought its massive bond-buying program to an end last year, but the dollar DXY, +0.03% has been a safe haven for investors jittery over the euro, and the decline in oil prices has also boosted the dollar.

Looking ahead, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to begin raising short-term rates this year. The federal funds rate has been locked in a range of zero to 0.25% since late 2008, and the wage growth indicated in the most recent monthly employment report from the Department of Labor could signal a change in policy sooner rather than later. The federal funds rate has traditionally been the central bank’s traditional tool, and will rise if there is any concern over inflation.

When the federal funds rate rises, we could see a flattening of the yield curve, if long-term rates stay down. Then again, a combination of factors could weaken the dollar, and a more “normal” yield curve could signal a significant rise in long-term interest rates over the next few years.

Rising long-term rates mean declining prices for bonds, since the market prices automatically adjust so a buyer in the secondary market will get the same yield as a buyer of a new bond with a similar rating.

The same is true for preferred stocks. But if the investor is holding the bonds or preferred stocks to generate income, and has no plan to sell the securities, no losses will be realized.

But if you are holding shares in a bond fund, you have a fluctuating share price that can be hammered as rates fall, and there’s no way of knowing if you might enjoy a similarly sized benefit when rates eventually decline again.

So Mark Hulbert shared an income portfolio you want to own when interest rates rise.

7. Stock-market warnings

The S&P 500 continues to hit all-time highs, and its current forward price-to-earnings ratio of 15.5 is its highest in 10 years. Let the dire warnings flow:

Brett Arends described the U.S. stock market as “one of the most dangerous in the world,” based on the research of Wellershoff & Partners, and suggested it may be a good idea to diversify with some international or emerging markets funds.

Tomi Kilgore highlighted seven charts that suggest the rising stock market may be wrong, when it comes to signaling continued economic improvement in the United States.

8. Personal finance

Daniel Goldstein inspired some passionate feedback from readers with his six things to know before you buy a timeshare.

Quentin Fottrell discussed employment prospects for college graduates, and also shared information on which professional pursuits might help students get the most for all the money they spend on education. He also listed the 10 highest paid (and most popular) jobs in America.

9. Tax time

Have you filed your tax return yet? If you prepare your return yourself, you might “do it the old fashioned way,” by using the instructions and filling out the forms. But if you use TurboTax software, you need to be aware of a recent fraud trend.

Eva Rosenberg offered suggestions on what to do if your W-2 doesn’t arrive, or if it is incorrect.

Bill Bischoff explained how to determine whether or not you need to send estimated quarterly tax payments to the Internal Revenue Service. He also discussed a favorite subject for investors: taxes on long-term capital gains, as well as tax advantages from charitable giving and what to do if you can’t afford to pay your taxes.

10. Retirement

Are you saving enough money to build a nest egg for a comfortable retirement? Do you save so much (and hopefully invest a good deal of it), that the sacrifice hurts? Chuck Jaffe detailed the retirement lies we tell ourselves.

On a more cheerful note, Anne Tergesen described a new study that shows how a 1% savings boost could sweeten your retirement.

Elizabeth O’Brien shared three ways to protect your nest egg from rising drug costs.