Loaded post-Holiday Monday for Media and Markets.

Traders are back in their seats Monday with an upbeat jobs report behind them and Treasuries pushing the magical 4% yield number. All this on a day where the Duke Blue Devils face off against the Butler Bulldogs for College Basketball's biggest prize, Tiger Woods has his first real press conference as Master's week begins and the Baseball Season begins with with the fiercest rivalry in the MLB, last night's opener of Yankees-Red Sox.

Gains in payrolls for the month of March of 162,000 signaled the biggest job increase in multiple years and certainly the most optimistic look for an economy devastated by millions of job losses in the 2 years. Yes, the Government sponsored Census had a part to play, as by some reports, the number of temporary workers hired has been reported near 48,000, but the underlying trend is much improved. The numbers from January and February were revised much higher also, with January turning a 26,000 job loss into a 14,000 job gain and February reducing its loss to only 14,000 from a previous estimate of 36,000.

On this positive data US Treasury yields for the 10-year flirted with the 4% mark. The first time in 10 months that this has happened. Another area creating highs was Energy, as Crude Oil prices pushed to 18-month highs of $86 a barrel.

Investors have a lot to look forward to today not market related, as sports and news take center stage. Opening day of the baseball season is sure to grab some attention away from Bloomberg terminals this afternoon as is Tiger's first full press conference since announcing he returns to play in the Masters. His first Golf Tournament since the infamous car accident and continued fall-out from his grandiose sex scandal. All the while, sports fans across the United States prepare for this year's College Basketball National Championship game tonight between the Blue Devils of Duke and the Bulldogs of Butler in Indianapolis, IN.

Final Four ready for Indianapolis

For CBS (CBS), this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament has been a resounding success. March Madness proved to be just that in the early rounds of the tournament, with several high profile upsets, Overtimes and nail-biting finishes.

CBS television ratings have generally been the victor, beating American Idol on the first night of the tournament and hardly looking back. Another success story for the College Basketball brand and network, it's online free-for-all. Each year, March Madness on Demand has exhibited exceptional growth. The completely free ad-supported streaming model had 30% growth over 2009, which is nothing to sneeze at. That equates to 3 Million unique viewers who watched 3.4 Million hours on the first day of the tournament alone. Consider also the streaming iPhone app was a top seller and this online thing is starting to really make a bit of money for the old network.

With the Final Four this year being a balance of known and unknown -Michigan State, Duke, Butler and West Virginia- CBS is hopeful tournament momentum carries it throughout the weekend games and National Championship for another successful and exciting College Basketball Championship.

Also on tap for this weekend, Apple's (AAPL) highly anticipated launch of the iPad, the table computer based on iPhone software that has been selling out pre-orders all over America. Analysts are increasingly bullish on sales prospects for the iPad with initial first year shipment targets moving from 3-5 Million into the 8-10 Million range.

According to one analyst, Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley, who has been written about here before and let's face it hasn't had the best of records when it comes to Apple picking (Link), Apple's suppliers are on pace to build 8-10 Million units this year and each Million sold will represent an additional $0.25/share in earnings. It has been this bullish tone lately with the iPad that has pushed Apple shares to all time highs in the $230s.

Disclosure: Author owns AAPL.

Markets end week with Rally as March Madness begins

It's that time of year again. College Basketball's best take the court all month long for a chance at a National Basketball Championship. The NCAA March Madness tournament begins this year at the onset of a long weekend for Traders.

With markets closing and options expiring this week, Trading was in flux but positive. Following a rough day for the Dow Wednesday, a rebound rally carried on as Investors poured money back in, sending the major indices higher by over 2%. Money flowed into the Financials once again as they continued to be the most volatile investments of late.

Good luck with your brackets Traders!