The happy-clappy start to this month has left investors wondering if it’s actually OK to celebrate.

There are warnings, of course, that this market is being stupid and too greedy. “Nobody knows whether we’re out of the woods, or if we were ever really in them in the first place,” writes Michael Batnick, over at The Irrelevant Investor.

That’s in the wake of yesterday’s 349-point leap, which puts the Dow DJIA, -0.87% down just 3.2% for the year. Less than three weeks ago, the blue-chip gauge was showing a drop of 10.1% year to date.

“It is only natural that some kind of bounceback is due,” says Helen Thomas over at Blonde Money. ”Just as we overshoot into panic, we are going to look as if we overshoot into greed.”

Meanwhile, JonesTrading’s Michael O’Rourke writes that the market’s action yesterday was “nonsensical.” The bearish strategist says that he has “a hard time believing anything about this behavior is healthy.”

If March is going to keep looking like a party for stock bulls, how to join in? Our call of the day offers a bunch of stock picks, courtesy of both the sensible folks at Morningstar and the colorful commentators at the iBankCoin blog.

Today’s chart highlights a bullish move by the tech-heavy and growthy Nasdaq Composite, and the economy section covers how one Fed bigwig is sounding jubilant.

Key market gauges

Dow US:YMH6 and S&P futures US:ESH6 are stepping lower as oil CLJ26, falls, putting the stock market on track to give up a bit of yesterday’s advance. Asia closed sharply higher, with credit going to signs of improvement in the U.S. economy. Europe SXXP, -0.66% is gaining, while gold US:GCJ6 and a key dollar index DXY, +0.03% are little changed.

The call

Morningstar

What to buy? Right on cue for yesterday’s big rally, Morningstar published a new piece in its Ultimate Stock Pickers series, which aims to follow top investors and deliver investing ideas. The table above shows the 10 stocks that have been attracting the most high-conviction buying from savvy investors, according to Morningstar.

The lineup includes AmEx AXP, -1.16% , VF Corp. VFC, -3.29% (parent of Wrangler and North Face), Union Pacific UNP, -0.91% , PayPal PYPL, +0.15% and Apple AAPL, -3.17% .

And over at iBankCoin, blogger RaginCajun offers five buys for this month, after screening for stocks that tend to perform well in March. The Louisianan writes that Dr Pepper Snapple US:DPS has never been down in March, Buffalo Wild Wings US:BWLD benefits from March Madness and First Solar FSLR, -3.51% shines in the spring.

Plus, Bed Bath & Beyond BBBY, -1.33% gets a lift from brides who “rush in from all over to add items to their registry,” while refiner Delek DK, -1.89% has been up in eight of the past nine Marches, the blogger notes.

The economy

The U.S. economy is set to “power ahead” and see “domestic inflation pressures strengthen,” San Francisco Fed President John Williams told the Financial Times. He talked down recession fears and noted the risks tied to leaving interest rates too low for too long, says the FT story published this morning.

Watch for more from Williams, as he’s due to speak in San Ramon, Calif., at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. The Fed’s Beige Book hits at 2 p.m. Eastern.

Beyond the Fed, that appetizer to Friday’s jobs report, ADP’s release, hit before the open and was better than expected. And oil and energy stocks could move on the government’s weekly data on U.S. crude inventories, due at 10:30 a.m.

The buzz

Reuters

A Clinton-Trump race looks increasingly likely after Super Tuesday. The reason it was a good night for Trump is not what you think. Rubio triumphed in … Minnesota. He’s being called the “Walter Mondale of 2016 Republicans,” but others see a bright side:

Now Facebook FB, -0.89% is caught in a privacy debate after the arrest of an exec in Brazil. Zuck & Co. also face a German antitrust probe.

ICYMI, short seller Citron is targeting Tesla, TSLA, +4.42% and Zynga ZNGA, +0.95% is getting a new CEO.

Clothing retailers American Eagle AEO, -1.67% and Abercrombie & Fitch ANF, -0.52% are among the companies on the earnings docket before the open, and ag giant Monsanto US:MON is falling after cutting its profit outlook.

The stat

2.1 million — That’s how many West African kids do the dangerous and physically taxing work of harvesting cocoa. That’s despite the fact big chocolate makers have promised to end child labor in their industry and have spent tens of millions of dollars on the effort, Fortune reports

The quote

Aw, shucks... Getty Images

“He can go in, but he can’t approach voters. ... You don’t usually get a president doing this.” — Massachusetts official William Galvin, quoted in stories about whether Bill Clinton broke election rules yesterday by visiting a polling location.

The chart

FactSet, MarketWatch

The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.07% just did something it hasn’t done all year — finish above its 50-day moving average, a key chart level. That move is shown in the above chart.

Chart watchers are noting the Dow, S&P SPX, -1.11% and Russell 2000 RUT, -0.37% also finished above their 50-day lines, and they’re impressed by the Naz:

Random reads

Osama Bin Laden worried his wife had a tracking device in a tooth filling.

A headache for Pitino as his players misbehave. No, not that Pitino. Minnesota’s.

Did Kanye just reveal he might take part in illegal file sharing?

How Chris Christie became the star of Trump’s victory speech

Astronaut Scott Kelly is back after nearly a year in space:

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