U.S. stocks rise for third week records set

_{Dow and S& P 500 finish week at all-time closing highs}

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks rose Friday as Wall Street racked up a third week of record-setting gains while considering global monetary easing and as finance ministers started a two-day meeting.

The Dow added 35.87 points to 15,118.49, its highest close ever.

Also finishing at an all-time high, the S& P 500 index added 7.03 points to 1,633.70, with health care the best performing and energy the worst performing among its 10 sectors.

“My sense is that we will see some weakness in the very short term, but that weakness will set up the markets for the next push higher, eventually carrying the S& P 500 towards the 1,700 mark by July,” said Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James & Associates.

A steep decline in commodity prices slammed shares of energy and natural-resources companies, while the dollar rose to a four-and-a-half-year high against the Japanese yen .

Energy companies including Tesoro Corp. fell as oil prices dropped 35 cents to $96.04 a barrel.

The Nasdaq Composite index rose 27.41 points to 3,436.58, with the index drawing a lift a day after Nvidia Corp.  and Priceline.com Inc. reported quarterly profits that beat estimates.

The benchmark indexes all settled with weekly gains, with the Dow up 1%, the S& P 500 ahead 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite rising 1.7% from last Friday’s close.

The rise has short sellers scrambling to cover bearish bets this week on high-profile stocks.

For every five stocks that fell nine gained on the New York Stock Exchange, where 619 million shares traded.

Composite volume approached 3 billion.

Expect 10% stock-market tumble: S& P analysts

_{May 6, 2013, 11:56 a.m. EDT}

Sell in June for the market swoon? ....

What to watch: 5 red flags that may signal bull's end

  NEW YORK -- More than four years after it started and 140% in gains later, it's no longer news that there's a bull market underway on Wall Street. But history says bull markets rarely die of old-age alone.

What are some warning flags to look out for that will tip you off to a looming market decline?

James Stack, editor of  InvesTech Researchnewsletter, addressed that very question in his latest issue. While he says stocks have some things going in their favor for now — namely, improving investor and CEO confidence, economic indicators still pointing up and a continued recovery in housing — he ticks off " Top 5 Warning Flags to Watch."

1. Long-term bond yields.

If yields on 10- and 30-year Treasuries, already trading near record lows under the Federal Reserve's easy-money policy, fall further, it would " carry a deflationary message," he says.

2. U.S. dollar.

" If the dollar suddenly drops to the lows in 2008, (it would) put pressure on long-term interest rates."

3. Advance/decline line.

If the number of stocks rising starts to narrow but major indexes continue to rise, it could be a sign of coming weakness.

4. Cyclical stocks.

If stocks that benefit from a healthy economy, such as tech, industrial and transportation companies, start to falter, it's a sign investors see weakness ahead.

5. Selling pressure.

A " fail-safe" tool to spot a bear is if the number of stocks hitting new yearly lows starts to accelerate, Stack adds.

Dow Has Its First Close Above 15,000 Points

Dow highest at 15,009.59 (above 15,000 for the first time), and close at 14,973.96  _+142.38 due to a far better-than-expected number on job creation last month.

The first closed above the 14,000 level was in July of 2007.

…" we remain fully invested in U.S. stocks," said David Kotok, chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors, who favors growth stocks over defensive shares. " We think the U.S. stock market is headed higher." …

DOW drop 100 points amid the poorer ISM and ADP employment results