Good News, Stock Market | featured news

The blue chips kicked off the second quarter with solid gains on optimistic economic data after capping the best first quarter in more than a decade.

Stocks started the week with big gains Monday on a major telecommunications deal and signs that Japan's nuclear crisis was stabilizing. The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 12,000 for the first time since a nuclear power plant in Japan failed following a massive earthquake and tsunami....

Upbeat economic data, and slipping oil prices, sparked a broad rally Thursday, lifting the blue chips to their biggest percent gain since December. 

Stocks started 2011 with a big lift on Monday, and that could be a promising sign for the rest of the year.

Latest signs spur caution optimism. Stock market rising; Americans paying off debt.

Dow Needs 23 Percent in 2011 to Set Record, Which Happened 6 Times Since 1985

Europe's sovereign debt crisis will still hang over global markets this week, but on Wall Street, investors will not be afraid to bet on stocks.

A crucial manufacturing index rose in October, but attention could be fleeting as traders turn to the midterm elections and the Fed meeting.

Stocks rallied Wednesday as investors continue to anticipate more stimulus measures from the Federal Reserve.

Traders tiptoed around stocks early Friday as they absorbed the government's jobs report, but the market flipped a switch mid-morning and settled into a rally mode that pushed the major indexes up to their best levels since May.