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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