Coming Week: Ready for Takeoff

After the market ended 2005 sourly, it began the new year with trumpets sounding. Traders in the coming week will look to add to those high notes.

Stocks vaulted last week, with the S&P 500 climbing 2.7% to a four-and-a-half year high. Even with the mild returns logged in the U.S. equity markets last year, traders are excited about finally crossing a big technical milestone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which rose 2.2% on the week, ended at its best level since mid-2001, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 4.5%, also reaching a four-and-a-half-year high.

"If you break out tech stocks, the broader stock market hasn't done much of anything since 1998, so I think we're getting ready for a move here," says Bill Rhodes, chief investment strategist with Rhodes Analytics. "It doesn't look like interest rates are going a lot higher." ...