Small-cap stocks were treading water near steady levels, unable to sustain an opening bounce that was tied to short profit-taking from traders who caught the slide yesterday and by decent weekly chain store sales. At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 0.19, or 0.03%, at 716.40.

The weekly chain store sales report was up 1.4% versus the same week last year and reflected a solid showing by Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Costco (Nasdaq:COST), which could provide a lift throughout retailer shares this morning. However, Wal-Mart was basically flat early on, and Costco was down about 1.5%. On the plus side on the retail front, plastic shoe maker Crocs Inc. (Nasdaq:CROX) jumped 24% on the opening after investors embraced the company’s outlook for the rest of the year. Crocs has been sinking like a rock since February, which puts today’s rally in a different perspective.

On the economic data front, the weekly claims data came in slightly better than the median forecast at 365,000 versus 375,000, but the report had very little impact on the market. The 10:00 a.m. ET wholesale inventories report came in soft at down 0.1% compared with the forecast for a gain of 0.5%. However, the wholesale inventory report is for March data, is considered dated by many traders and had almost no impact on prices when released.

Price action for small caps was bleak yesterday, with the Russell 2000 generating a bearish outside reversal on daily charts and faltering near a familiar zone that stopped the recovery back in early February. Some of the short-term players . . .

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