But as the typically sluggish summer months on Wall Street take hold, momentum is bound to slow.

"The move up is going to be slower and we're going to have periods of sideways movement," said Gary Webb, CEO at Webb Financial Group. "But slow and steady is good because it's more sustainable."

The week ahead brings readings on the deficit, jobless claims, retail sales and consumer sentiment. Monday is also the deadline for "stress tested" banks that need to raise more capital to explain just how they plan to do it.

But lately, all news has been good news, or at least neutral news. Investors took in stride the bankruptcy filing of General Motors last week. They also welcomed a May jobs report Friday that showed employers cut 345,000 jobs from their payrolls, versus forecasts for 520,000 jobs. The rationale was that the number was shy of forecasts and suggests the pace of job losses is slowing.

Indications that the intensity of the recession is abating have boosted stock prices and consumer sentiment for three months. Since hitting a more than 12-year low on March 9, the Dow has risen more than 32%, its best 13-week run since Nov. 1982, according to Dow Jones.

Over the summer months stocks will churn in response to different news events, but the trend should remain up, if only because the government has put so much money into the financial system, said Will Hepburn, chief investment officer at Hepburn Capital Management.

"Hopefully that money will build us a stronger foundation, so that when this sugar high gives out, we have something to stand on," he said.

Autos: The automakers will continue to make news next week, although so far the bankruptcy filings of both General Motors (GMGMQ) and Chrysler have not had much of an impact on stock market sentiment.

Chrysler is expected to exit bankruptcy Monday afternoon following an appeals court ruling late Friday that set aside an Indiana pension fund's objections. The ruling lets Chrysler sell a majority of its assets to a new company to be called the Chrysler Group.

The new company will be owned mostly by a United Auto Workers union trust, Italian automaker Fiat and the U.S. government.

The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on auto industry restructuring Wednesday afternoon.

GM's bankruptcy means its being kicked out of the Dow Jones industrial average, come Monday. It will be replaced by Cisco Systems (CSCO, Fortune 500). Also leaving the Dow: Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), which will be replaced by insurer Travelers (TRV, Fortune 500).

Monday: The 10 banks that were told to raise additional funds as a result of the government's "stress tests" must submit detailed plans Monday.

Already, the banks have managed to raise a substantial portion of the collective $75 billion, with Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) among the banks that have already met or exceeded the requirements.

Tuesday: The government's April wholesale inventories report is due in the morning. Inventories likely fell 1% after falling 1.6% in the previous month.

In Washington, the Joint Economic Committee will further examine the bank bailout program, the House Financial Services Committee is holding a hearing about regulating derivatives and the Senate Energy Committee will discuss energy legislation.

Wednesday: A slew of economic reports are due out throughout the day, highlighted by the Federal Reserve's "beige book" reading on economic activity in the afternoon.

In the morning, the Census Bureau will release the April trade balance, with the deficit expected to have widened to $28.7 billion from $27.6 billion in March.

The weekly crude oil inventories report from the Energy Information Administration is also due in the morning, while the May Treasury budget is due in the afternoon.

Thursday: May retail sales are expected to have risen 0.3% after falling 0.4% in April. Retail sales, excluding volatile auto sales, are expected to have risen 0.2% after falling 0.5% in the previous month.

April business inventories, from the Census Bureau, are expected to have fallen 1% after falling 1% in March.

The weekly jobless claims report is also on tap from the Labor Department, along with the May foreclosure report from industry tracker RealtyTrac.

Friday: May import and export prices are due from the Labor Department and the June consumer sentiment index is due from the University of Michigan.

The G8 finance ministers are meeting in Rome Friday and Saturday. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is expected to speak Friday.

NEW  YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks turned mixed Friday morning, giving up early gains, as investors welcomed a report that showed stabilization in the labor market, but were cautious after the recent rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) was little changed in the early going. The S&P 500 (SPX) index lost 3 points, or 0.3% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) also lost a few points.

The stock markets rallied Thursday, led by energy, financial and tech shares, as investors welcomed signs of improvement in the labor market ahead of the big monthly jobs report.

All three major gauges have now gained in 5 of the last six sessions, extending the broader market rally that has been in place since early March.

Jobs: The U.S. Labor Department reported that payrolls shed 345,000 jobs in May.

This was considerably lower than anticipated. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that employers cut another 520,000 jobs.

Also, the government said the unemployment rate rose to 9.4%, a 25-year high. But this didn't seem to carry as much clout among investors as the job loss report.

Prior to the report, Hogan said that "anything below 526,000" will be interpreted as "good news."

Autos: A U.S. federal court will hear on Friday arguments from Indiana pension funds appealing the sale of Chrysler's assets to Fiat.

General Motors (GMGMQ), which recently filed for bankruptcy, will help finance a private equity firm's acquisition of bankrupt car parts supplier Delphi Corp, the Wall Street Journal said.

Also, GM said it would sell its Saturn brand to car dealership operator Penske Automotive Group.

Companies: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. wants to overhaul management at Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), which could put Chief Executive Vikram Pandit at risk, according to a report in the Journal.

Also, the FDIC said it gave up on trying to sell off Silverton Bank, which it closed May 1. The government agency said it will unwind Silverton.

Friday is the last session in which Citigroup and GM will be traded as Dow components. They'll be replaced Monday by Travelers (TRV, Fortune 500) and Cisco Systems (CSCO, Fortune 500).

Deals: Mining giant Rio Tinto (RTP) scrapped a $19.5 billion merger deal with Chinalco. Rio said it would form an alliance with BHP Billiton (BHP) instead.

World markets: Asian markets ended the session in positive territory. The positive mood spread to Europe, where major markets were higher in midday trading.

Oil and money: The dollar rose against major international currencies, including the yen, the euro and the British pound. The price of oil topped $70 a barrel briefly, but then backed off. 

 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks rallied Thursday, led by energy, financial and tech shares, as investors welcomed signs of improvement in the labor market ahead of the big monthly jobs report.

Meanwhile, treasury prices slumped, raising the corresponding yields, as investors pulled money out of the safer asset and put it into stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 75 points, or 0.9%. The S&P 500 (SPX) index added 10 points, or 1.1%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) added 24 points, or 1.3%.

While there are concerns about Friday's jobs report, the energy-and-bank-stock-driven rally of the last few weeks has resumed after Wednesday's slide, said Kenny Landgraf, principal and founder at Kenjol Capital Management.

"The uptrend remains intact, there's a rotation out of bonds, volatility is down and risk-taking is back in the market," Landgraf said.

Oil prices surged, along with the underlying stocks, after Goldman Sachs boosted its 2009 crude forecast to $85 a barrel and issued a 2010 forecast of $95 per barrel. Bank shares advanced as well, lifting the 24-share KBW Bank (BKX) index by 4.8%.

Friday brings the May jobs report from the Labor Department. Employers are expected to have cut 520,000 jobs from their payrolls after cutting 539,000 in the previous month. The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, is expected to have risen to 9.2% from 8.9% in the previous month.

Although the report will be closely watched, the results are not likely to shake investors too much, unless they diverge considerably from forecasts, said Gary Webb, CEO at Webb Financial Group.

"At this point, people know that the unemployment rate is going to keep rising for a while and that the labor market will recover later than the rest of the economy," Webb said.

Stocks rallied in March and April on bets that the economy is closer to stabilizing. But now that expectations have risen, investors are looking for more concrete evidence. That anticipation limited stock gains through most of May. But the major gauges have now closed higher for five of the last six sessions.

Stocks are likely to continue a similarly jerky move upward over the next few months, Webb said.

Mozilo: In other news, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday afternoon that it has filed fraud charges against former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo and two others.

The charges likely relate to the timing of Mozilo's sale of shares of the mortgage lender -- and whether he benefited from dumping stock ahead of the company's near implosion and subsequent sale to Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500).

Jobs: The Labor Department's weekly jobless claims report offered a few encouraging signs in advance of Friday's big jobs report.

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment dipped last week to 621,000 from a revised 625,000 in the previous week. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast 620,000 new claims.

But continuing claims -- the number of Americans receiving claims for a second week or more -- declined for the first time in 20 weeks.

In other economic news, first-quarter productivity increased 1.6%, revised up from its first reading of 0.8%. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast a revised gain of 1.2%.

Retailers: Most May sales reports showed that the U.S. consumer continues to struggle, with improvements in sentiment not yet resulting in renewed buying.

May retail sales fell a sharper-than-expected 4.8%, according to Thomson Reuters, versus a gain of 1.1% a year ago.

Among the standouts, Gap (GPS, Fortune 500) said same-store sales, or sales at stores open more than a year, fell 6% while Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) said same-store sales fell 28%. Both stocks tumbled.

No. 1 retailer Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), which no longer issues monthly sales results and is therefore not included in the index, said it will hire over 22,000 people this year to work at its new or expanded U.S. stores.

Company news: Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) will buy software maker Wind River for $884 million in cash, or $11.50 per share, a premium of more than 40% over Wind River (WIND)'s Wednesday closing price. Intel gained 1.2%, while Wind River rose 47%.

Regional bank Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB, Fortune 500) said it sold $1 billion of common stock and is on track to raise more than the $1.1 billion federal regulators have said it must as a result of the "stress tests." Shares gained 7.3%.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers by over three to one on volume of 1.36 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by more than two to one on volume of 2.50 billion shares.

Bonds: Treasury prices tumbled, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.71% from 3.54% Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Other markets: In global trading, Asian markets ended lower and European markets ended higher.

In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the euro and gained against the yen.

U.S. light crude oil for July delivery rose $2.69 to settle at $68.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for August delivery rose $16.70 to settle at $982.30 an ounce. 

LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stock futures rose Thursday, although gains were modest as investors remained uncertain about the economic outlook.

At 5:05 a.m. ET, Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were higher.

Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance and offer an indication of how markets may open when trading begins in New York.

U.S. stocks fell Wednesday, pressured by mixed readings on the economy and comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the economic recovery would be slow.

Economy: Investors will look to May chain-store sales, which are due out Thursday, for direction.

They'll also take in a weekly report on jobless claims, which comes out at 8:30 a.m. ET. A reading on productivity also will be released at that time.

Companies: Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), the world's largest retailer, said it plans to hire more than 22,000 people this year.

The first wave of reviews for Palm's (PALM) new smartphone, the Pre, were mostly positive. Palm is positioning the Pre as a rival to Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone and Research in Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry.

World markets: Asian stocks finished the session lower. In Europe, major markets were modestly higher ahead of rate decisions from the Bank of England and European Central Bank. 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks slipped Wednesday, as a four-session advance lost steam, after mixed readings on the economy and ahead of retail sales and labor market reports due later this week.

Treasury prices rallied, lowering the corresponding yields, while the dollar gained versus other major currencies. Oil and gold prices tumbled.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 66 points, or 0.8%. The S&P 500 (SPX) index fell 13 points, or 1.4%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) dipped 11 points, or 0.6%.

Reports on the job market, factory orders and the services sector of the economy were in focus, along with congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Some of the economic reports were short of estimates and Bernanke's comments may have been seen as a little more cautionary than would have been expected, said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial Group.

In addition, "the market has risen in 10 of the last 12 weeks and investors may be starting to run out of gas," he said.

However, Sheldon said that a bit of a pullback is unsurprising, considering that the market, as represented by the S&P 500, has risen around 40% since the March lows.

"Given the amount we've covered in a short amount of time, it's reasonable to see some declines," he said. "The key going forward is that we continue to get improving economic news."

Looking out, the trend for stocks is likely to remain positive for the next few months, if only because of the enormous amount of money the government is pouring into the system, said Will Hepburn, chief investment officer at Hepburn Capital Management.

"The government is flooding the system with cash and until it is used for hiring or building, it is going to go into the financial markets," Hepburn said.

Thursday brings May sales from the nation's chain stores, the weekly jobless claims report from the Labor Department and the revised reading on first-quarter productivity and unit labor costs.

Movers: Stock declines Wednesday were broad based, with 24 of 30 Dow issues falling, led by oil companies Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) and Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500).

Oil prices fell along with the price of oil, which tumbled after the government's weekly inventory report showed a larger-than-expected build up in inventories.

Fellow oil services firm Valero Energy (VLO, Fortune 500) tumbled 18% after warning that it would report a quarterly loss rather than a quarterly profit analysts expected. The company also said it will make an additional 40 million shares available.

A variety of bank shares fell, including Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500). The KBW Bank (BKX) index lost 1.5%.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners seven to three on volume of 1.33 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers eight to five on volume of 2.35 billion shares.

Labor market: A pair of reports released Wednesday morning showed the pace of job losses could be slowing.

Private-sector employers cut 532,000 jobs in May after paring 545,000 in April, according to payroll-services firm ADP. Expectations were for 525,000 cuts, according to a Briefing.com survey of economists.

A separate report showed the number of job cuts announced in May fell for the fourth month in a row. According to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., job cut announcements by U.S. employers were 111,182 in the month, down from 132,590 in April. The figure was the lowest total since last September, but still up from a year earlier.

The reports set the tone for the broader May non-farm payrolls report due out Friday.

Economy: In other news, the Institute for Supply Management's index on the services sector of the economy improved to 44 from 43.7 in April. However, that was short of forecasts for an improvement to 45.

Factory orders rose 0.7% in April after falling 1.9% in March. Economists thought orders would climb 0.9%.

Bernanke: The Federal Reserve Chairman told the House Budget Committee that while data show the pace of the recession is slowing, the economy still has a lot of work ahead of it.

In particular, Bernanke talked about the impact of the still-weak labor market and decline in household wealth.

Bonds: Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.54% from 3.61% Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Other markets: In global trading, Asian markets ended higher and European markets ended lower.

In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro and yen.

U.S. light crude oil for July delivery fell $2.43 to settle at $66.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for August delivery slipped $18.70 to settle at $964.50 an ounce.