On Monday the major indexes were mixed with minor deviations from last week’s closing values, as investors have some concern over the rise in costs companies are experiencing. The S&P 500 hit a nearly 3-year high on Tuesday on positive earnings reports from 3M, Ford Motor, Caterpillar, and Cummins. Wednesday was a landmark day for several of the major indexes. The small-cap Russell 2000 became the first major index to recover all of its losses from the 2008-2009 stock decline to close the day at an all-time high. The NASDAQ closed at its highest mark since 2000, and the S&P 500 closed at a mark more than twice its low mark in March 2009. Continued positive earnings reports coupled with the Federal Reserve’s plan to not raise interest rates in the near future propelled stocks up once again on Thursday. The trading month ended on Friday with another gain for stocks, as optimism in the recovering US economy continues to swell. The small-cap Russell 2000 is now 152% above its low set in 2009.

Once again, it was a good week for stocks.

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Monday kicked off the week on a down note with a 140 point drop in the Dow as Standard and Poor’s cut its view of US debt from stable to negative. The market gained back about half of its losses on Tuesday on news that Dow heavyweight Johnson & Johnson issued a better-than-expected earnings report. On Wednesday, additional good earnings reports from companies such as Intel, Citigroup, and Apple sent stocks soaring into positive territory for the week, as investors seemed to have forgotten the recent downgrade in US debt. Stocks finished the week on Thursday with another gain at its highest close since June 2008 as more good earnings reports outweighed some mediocre business index and jobless claims news. The stock market was closed on Friday in observance of Good Friday.

It was a positive week all-around for the major indexes.

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The major indexes finished mixed on Monday prior to the kickoff of the first quarter 2011 earnings season. After hours, Alcoa beat expectations for earnings but disappointed on sales growth. On Tuesday both the market and crude oil fell sharply on concerns that raw materials are becoming too expensive to allow the recent economic growth to continue. On Wednesday tech stocks led the way on an otherwise largely unchanged market that failed to respond to President Obama’s plan to cut the US deficit by $4 trillion over the next 12 years. A negligible increase in stocks on Thursday resulted after an early-day slump was erased in the afternoon on news that the US House of Representatives approved the funding for the rest of fiscal year 2011. On Friday, stocks had their first good day of the week, as good news on consumer sentiment, inflation, and regional manufacturing more than offset disappointing earnings by Google.

The major indexes lost ground again this week as the market searches for direction.

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On Monday the Dow closed at its highest mark since June 2008, although the NYSE composite volume was the lowest of the calendar year. On Tuesday, the major indexes finished effectively unchanged on light volume once again, with no new material revealed in the minutes of the most recent Fed meeting. The Dow hit another recent high on Wednesday, as news that several European banks were raising capital propelled the market to another winning day. While a better-than-expected initial jobless claims report initially helped markets on Thursday, a new 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Japan sent the Dow plunging 100 points, although the lack of any significant additional damage allowed the markets to crawl back to near the unchanged mark. On Friday, the imminent midnight shutdown of the federal government spooked investors, although losses on the day were relatively modest.

Most of the major indexes lost ground this week, although the losses were relatively minor.

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On Monday, further signs of a gradually improving economy emerged with positive consumer spending, personal income, and pending sales of existing homes reports, but the morning gains evaporated to a slight loss as the day progressed. Stocks bounced back on Tuesday with a moderate gain, closing at their highest levels since violence broke out in Libya on February 18. On Wednesday another moderate gain pulled the Dow to within just 40 points of its 2011 high, as Mideast/North Africa concerns seem to be failing to dampen the optimism in the stock market. The market took a small step back on Thursday, but ended the first quarter of 2011 with its best performance for a first quarter since 1999, remarkable give the Japan tsunami/nuclear reactor and political tension issues in March. On Friday, stocks marched ahead again as the Dow set a 2011 high while touching a nearly 3-year high intraday. The charge resulted from a downtick in unemployment to 8.8% and a better-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report.

It was a good week for stocks, but the big story was the conclusion of a very successful first quarter on Thursday.

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