It’s days like these that make an author of a market wrap story earn his keep.

A shameless ploy would be to report that the S&P 500 almost finished lower on Thursday for the second day in a row – an infamous feat that hasn’t happened since those heady days of Jan. 20.

But really, what significance did a two-day losing streak have then? The market stood up, brushed itself off, and marched another 3.4% higher to post yet another two-and-a-half-year high.

When a rally has been this strong for this long, when momentum has trumped any negative or unpleasant corporate or economic news (or been emboldened by positive news), even the close call of a two-day losing streak in stocks just ain’t what it used to be.

The market was about as flat as it gets on Thursday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 11 points to 12,229, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 each tacked on a point, to 2790 and 1322, respectively.

While flat may be the new down in a market that has added nearly 26% since early September, it doesn’t help a bearish case that the last significant selloff in stocks was more than two weeks ago.

However, what does support a more circumspect view is that financial stocks ended lower for the second straight session, and what that may mean for a broad market move higher if that sector decides to sit it out for a while.

Commodities, too, were mostly flat as a group. Crude oil remained under $87 a barrel and natural gas prices slid.

Oil equipment and services stocks outperformed, while telecom stocks traded lower on the heels of disappointing earnings results late Wednesday from Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO)