Spooked one week, sanguine the next.
Some stock investors are drawing optimism from the market's ability to move upwards in the face of loftier yields - even though those higher yields were partly blamed for last week's violent selloff.
Those investors are optimistic about economic growth, and stocks that can benefit from that environment, although they concede the overhanging risk that a sharp spike in yields could cause another rout.
“Even though yields are moving higher, the equity market seems to be continuing to follow through on some of the upward movement that we saw earlier in the year that is related to global growth,” said Tracie McMillion, head of global asset allocation strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Rising yields spooked the stock market last week, following employment data on Friday that caused concerns about inflationary pressures.
However, this week has seen a rising stock market, despite yields remaining near their four-year-high.
Wednesday's move up in stocks - including a 1.3 percent surge for the S&P 500 - came even as the benchmark 10-year Treasury's yield rose from 2.84 percent to 2.91 percent, following closely watched inflation data showing U.S. consumer prices rose more than expected in January.
"The equity markets had to reprice for this (higher yield) environment, and now the stock market is saying: 'We're OK with this, Game On'," said Jason Ware, Chief Investment Officer of Albion Financial in Utah, who said he still preferred stocks to bonds.
"It's still a no brainer," Ware said. "The total return for equities is so much more attractive than the meager income you get from bonds."
Wednesday's rise in stocks also came as volatility levels had fallen, with the Cboe Volatility index dropping into the 20s after rising as high as 50 a week earlier, and coincided with expiring VIX futures and options.