It looked like investors left to celebrate St. Patrick's Day early, as the market was flat with incredibly low volatility. In fact, the CBOE Volatility Index is at a five-year low. Weak consumer confidence, thanks to rising gas prices, took the wind out of the market early and the week ended on a whimper. After we take a look at the three major indexes, lets jump in and see who today's key movers were.

  Gain / Loss Gain / Loss % Ending Value
Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) (20.14) (0.15%) 13,232.62
Nasdaq (1.11) (0.04%) 3,055.26
S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC) 1.57 0.11% 1,404.17

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

The three indexes were mixed, largely on flat performances. Of note, the S&P's rise today put the finishing touches on would be its best weekly trading session in 2012, up 2.4%. The Dow was helped on by financial sector component Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), still enjoying the stress-test afterglow, sending shares up and additional 6% today, putting it up 22% for the week and making its year-to-date performance a remarkable 76% higher. With uncertainty as to the big banks' capital strength dissipating, investors are feeling more confident jumping into a stock that's at only a fraction of its pre-crisis highs.

One of the Nasdaq's top performers was biotech Amarin (Nasdaq: AMRN), which saw shares pop 18% on optimism that the company had made progress toward achieving patent protection for its triglyceride fighting drug AMR-101 that is currently under FDA review. Analysts at Leerink Swann noted that if it can solve its patent problems, AMR-101 and its blockbuster potential would be attractive to a Big Pharma suitor. Positive phase 3 results and takeover hype helped shares hit nearly $20 before collapsing to half that, so for investors on Amarin's rollercoaster, let's hope there is truth to today's rumors.

Speaking of consumers feeling pain at the pump, one potential beneficiary of persistently high oil prices looks to be tanker company Frontline (Nasdaq: FRO). Shares were up 23% today after the company acknowledged increased demand from China, while Bloomberg notes that rates for VLCC's rose a remarkable 87% in the Atlantic Basin, with the Suezmax not far behind at an 82% increase on thin supply. Although there is talk the rate jump is nothing more than a temporary blip, if the global economy is in real recovery than Frontline could be well positioned to take advantage.

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