MarketWatch top 10 stories Feb. 27 - March 2

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) � U.S. stocks ended the week lower on Friday, only the third time that's happened so far this year.

The losses were small though and the major indexes consolidated near recent multiyear highs. Stock investors in the U.S. and Europe reacted with relief this week to the latest political and economic machinations in Europe.Watch for upcoming Russian elections to grab the headlines for a day or two in Europe.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA �lost 2.73 points, or 0.02%, to 12,977.57. It lost 0.04% for the week, only its third weekly loss this year. Midweek, the blue-chip index closed above 13,000 for its first time since 2008.

The S&P 500SPX � ended down 4.46 points, or 0.3%, to 1,369.63, up 0.3% for the week. On Wednesday, the index wrapped up its best two-month start to the year since 1987.

The Nasdaq Composite COMP �ended down 12.78 points, or 0.4%, to 2,976.19, up 0.4% for the week. The index this week passed the 3,000 mark, a first since 2000.

Also please watch our Week Ahead videos.

Asia Week Ahead: Investors eye Aussie Data, NPC

Europe Week Ahead: ECB Meeting, U.S. Payrolls

U.S. Week Ahead: Apple Event, Oil Price in Spotlight

Greg Morcroft, assistant managing editor

The best are bullish, the worst are not

The stock market timers with the best long-term record are, on balance, bullish. The consensus of those on the Hulbert Financial Digest�s monitored list with the worst records, in contrast, is far more bearish.That is perhaps one of the best arguments right now in favor of a higher stock market in March � especially when coupled with the news that there is no particular reason to expect the market�s major trend to shift during the month. Read Mark Hulbert market commentary, on MarketWatch

AT&T hastening demise of unlimited data plans

AT&T Inc. T �is taking a step closer to doing away with unlimited-mobile data-plans.Under a new policy, AT&T will slow download speeds for unlimited 3G and 4G smartphone customers who exceed 3 gigabytes and 4G LTE users who exceed 5 gigabytes of data in a given month. AT&T had previously been slowing speeds, or throttling, customers who were in the top 5% of data users in their respective market.AT&T has been trying to manage capacity on its network in the face of heavy data consumption by Apple Inc. AAPL � iPhone users and a limited supply of wireless airwaves, or spectrum. Read MarketWatch coverage of ATT data plan policy

Apple shares may soon be worth shorting

Not so long ago I wrote an article suggesting Apple was almost a sell, based on the competitive environment and the �new customer� that exists for the company today. Not only do I continue to believe that the competitive environment is far less favorable for Apple today than it has been for years, but after the recent aggressive and eye-opening surge in the stock, I also believe Apple may almost be a short. Read Trading Deck item about shorting Apple, on MarketWatch