The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 7.1% in July, in which case the S&P 500 and Nasdaq logged impressive gains during the month for sharp losses in May and June.

A new trading week and month arise Monday and premarket futures suggest the stock market will continue higher.

Asian public funds finished higher Monday, while European shares were rising impressively after HSBC(HBC), Europe's biggest bank ~ means of market capitalization, said profit more than doubled in the first half of 2010.

The coming week is again filled with corporate profits. reports, this time from the likes of Procter & Gamble(PG), MasterCard(MA), Pfizer(PFE) and Kraft Foods(PFE).

So well-nigh, 336 of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported side with-quarter earnings, with about three-quarters of the companies topping analysts' estimates, according to Thomson Reuters.

Earnings reports, howsoever, might take a backseat to a wealth of economic data to be released this week, particularly Friday's unemployment report. Economists expect the established order lost 116,000 nonfarm payrolls in July, according to Briefing.com. The unemployment find fault with is expected to rise to 9.6% from 9.5%.

The very valuable metals and commercial banks sectors were viewed by poll participants in the same proportion that those most likely to rise this week. The homebuilding sector was seen to the degree that the sector most likely to post declines; this week the sector decree get earnings reports from PulteGroup(PHM), D.R. Horton (DHI) and Beazer Homes(BZH).

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That's not to say investors should brace as far as concerns another dizzying drop like the intraday 1,000 point plunge in the Dow Jones industrial average on Thursday.

Lingering uneasiness over the sudden decline seems well-adapted to muzzle buying activity, however, over the coming week at a time at the time Europe's sovereign debt crisis is still unfolding. Further trouble in Greece or elsewhere could re-ignite selling by investors who just saw the family market's entire 2010 gain of 8 percent wiped out in a four-generation losing streak.

Bernanke discussed the financial crisis and the Fed's various responses at the Dallas Regional Chamber in the afternoon. The Fed chief called for an end to financial institutions that are too-big-to-fail and highlighted the need for enhanced powers to wind down failing financial firms. Though the economy is healing, Bernanke, again, raised concerns about the labor and housing markets.

But separately, Hoenig, who has dissented over the Federal Open Market Committee's policy statement language to keep rates at near-zero for an "extended period," said concerns about bubbles and inflation may require a proactive fed funds rate hike toward 1%.

Jay Suskind, senior vice president at Duncan Williams, said investors may also be staying on the sidelines in anticipation of the start of earnings next week.

"The market has priced in pretty robust earnings and I don't think there's a lot of room for disappointment," he said. "If results look good and look to remain good going forward, then we might blow through 11,000 as people try to get in on the rally. But if earnings disappoint, or companies appear cautious, then you'll see more of a pullback."

Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan testified before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission for its three-day investigation into how subprime lending, securitization and government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae(FNM) and Freddie Mac(FRE) contributed to the financial crisis.

TheBank of Japan held a key interest rate at 0.1%.

Overseas, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.8%, and Japan's Nikkei increased 0.09%. The FTSE in London slid 0.3%, and the DAX in Frankfurt fell by 0.5%.

>>The Economy

>>Company News

>>Commodities and the Dollar

>>Treasuries

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Global markets have seen strong rallies since the beginning of the year. Year-to-date, the Russell 2000, an index of small-cap names, is up 7.8%, the S&P 500 has risen 3.2%, the Nasdaq has popped 4.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has added 2.1%. Some more bearish analysts are forecasting a 7% to 10% correction in the coming months, arguing that stocks have run too far, too fast. Recently, I spoke with Gartman to get his view on the global economy, currencies and gold.

TheStreet: Do you think that this bull market we are seeing right now is for real? Or do you see a big correction coming up?

Gartman: Anybody who has tried to be short of stocks since last March gets led to slaughter. And all I can tell people is that even I try to be short [stocks] every once in a while. I get over it very quickly. Why do I get over it? Because as soon as I do it, it costs me money.

You have said before that you don't want to be aggressively long, though. What does that mean?

If you're long, that's one thing. If you're aggressively long, that's another thing. Right now I would characterize my positions as being modestly, sort of tacitly, kinda a little bit, sort of kinda long, sorta maybe.

What does that mean?

It means I'm kinda sort of long but not aggressively so. I'm a hedge fund and I actually think in terms of being a true hedged hedge fund. Most hedge funds are basically long only punters. I'm a hedger. I'm long some things and short other things. I'm long Ford(F), for example, and short Toyota(TM) ... I'm long restaurant stocks and I'm short grains ... Right now I'm just a little bit longer then I am short so on balance I am a little long, I'm not aggressively long.

What sectors are you most bullish on?

Restaurant stocks.

Which precious metal do you like the best?

I like gold not because it's better than any other metal. It's just that it's demonstrably more liquid than any other metal. I don't have the stomach or the stupidity to trade things like platinum, which can move 2% to 3% in the course of a day. That's just something I don't understand and would never be able to trade.

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>>Top Five Metals and Mining Stocks

Despite today's meandering trading, the major averages managed to drift higher this week. The Dow added 0.6% since last Friday, while the S&P gained 1%. For the week, the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.8%.

Dirk van Dijk, chief equity strategist at Zacks Investment Research, said the dearth of market-moving data during the week kept most stocks trading in a tight range.

"Earnings season is over, and there was really no significant economic data this week. You really had to hunt for things. Today's retail sales report was probably the most important for the week," van Dijk said. "Just not a lot of info."

But that changes next week as a flood of data and a statement from the Federal Reserve's policy-making arm following its regular meeting are due, which will put the spotlight on the banking, housing, industrial and basic material sectors, among others. Capitol Hill will also be in focus as news reports suggested health care and financial regulatory reform news may be made in the coming week.

Stocks lost momentum today after the University of Michigan delivered its preliminary read on March consumer sentiment, which dipped to 72.5 after registering 73.6 in February, hinting shoppers' psyches may have been affected by the struggling labor market and other economic uncertainties. Street analysts had forecast sentiment to hit 74 during the month, according to consensus figures provided by Briefing.com.

"I'm looking at this number thinking it's not telling us much and won't tell us much until we see some job growth," said Chris Low, economist at FTN Financial. "The reality is people look out the window to see if things have picked up."

But a separate report showed February retail sales rose unexpectedly last month. Retail sales rose 0.3% in February, advancing 0.8%, excluding autos. The figures were much better than the decrease of 0.2% that economists had been expecting and for growth of 0.5%, excluding autos. February's sales build on an uptick of 0.1% in January.

Michael James, managing director at Wedbush Morgan Securities, said stalling equities were to be expected today despite the sentiment or retail assessments, considering the recent run-up by stocks. The S&P 500 closed at a 17-month high Thursday, also a key technical level, and the index has improved more than 4% since the beginning of the month. The morning's data, then, only heightened his enthusiasm for the retail sector, saying "the group continues to attract more buyers than sellers."

A few retailer names touched 52-week highs, including Nordstrom(JWN), Macy's(M), Dillard's(DDS) and Saks(SKS). The S&P Retail Index rose 0.6%.

A class of retailer earnings also highlighted the sector today. AnnTaylor(ANN) finished down 0.8% despite beating profit estimates before the opening bell. Quiksilver(ZQK) shares rocketed up 29.9% to $4.04 after outpacing the Street's first-quarter forecasts. Aeropostale(ARO) and Pacific Sunwear of California(PSUN) unveiled opposite results late Thursday, the former recording a 42% profit spike and the latter showing a 17% sales tumble. Aeropostale added 4.2% to close at $28.18, while Pacific Sunwear lost 15.5% at $4.86.

Low said sluggishness in the broader equities may be because "we haven't really had clean data in two months" as a result of harsh weather last month. The creation of this "information vacuum" affected some data more than others, though he says that the retail sales figures are more reliable because they use the entire month for measurement as opposed to any particular week.

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The stock was tacking on 5.5% in recent trades to $16.30. About 166 million shares have changed hands, more than double the issue's average trailing three-month volume of 76 million, and good for third most-active issue on the New York Stock Exchange, behind Citigroup(C Quote), which has been tear of late, and Bank of America, which was the recipient of an upgrade from Credit Suisse before the opening bell.

The rise made GE the top percentage gainer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which was slightly higher in late afternoon action ahead of Friday's eagerly anticipated nonfarm payrolls report.

It wasn't completely clear what was driving the buying interest as the stock didn't take off until around midday. JPMorgan raised its price target on the stock before the open to $22 from $20 as part of a wider call on a number of industrial companies, including a downgrade of fellow Dow component 3M(MMM Quote). The firm already had an overweight rating on the shares, but did say its top picks for 2010 were General Electric, Rockwell Automation(ROK Quote), and Watsco Inc.(WSO Quote).

JPMorgan also singled out General Electric for praise, though, saying the stock was its favorite of those three, and that the stock "does not reflect the earnings leverage at GE Capital."

On the corporate news front, there was an announcement by the company's GE Transportation unit of an order for 50 locomotives from Cosan for deployment in Brazil. A Dow Jones report put the value of the order at $130 million. Dow Jones also cited a report from Morgan Stanley about the state of the commercial real estate market as a contributing factor for the rise in the stock, but the note doesn't specifically pertain to General Electric.

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Bank stocks rallied past other sectors today, helping prop up the major market averages. Bank of America(BAC Quote) received an upgrade at Credit Suisse, lifting shares 3.3%.

>>Job Growth on Tap?

The note's "more constructive" outlook on banks lifted shares across the financial sector, as the KBW Bank Index surged 4.1%.

General Electric(GE Quote) advanced the most on the Dow, improving by 5.2% on heavy volumes. Alcoa(AA Quote) shares suffered a 2.1% slide -- the steepest dip on the blue-chip average -- after Citi analysts cut its rating ahead of next week's earnings release.

Stocks traded in a tight range in the morning after initial jobless claims came in at 434,000 for the week ended Jan. 2 -- 1,000 higher than the previous week. Economists had been expecting weekly claims of 445,000. The four-week moving average fell for the 18th week in a row, signaling that the improvement trend remains intact and, at 450,240, it marked the lowest level since September 2008.

Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners, attributed the early market weakness to investors playing it safe ahead of Friday's key December nonfarm payrolls report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"There's a bit of cautiousness heading into the nonfarm payrolls report, since very few people want to put their necks on the line before they know what's going on," Pavlik said, adding that overseas weakness and a slightly stronger dollar were also pressuring stocks.

Wall Street has been preoccupied with the employment picture this week as it looks forward to Friday's employment data for December. Economists expect the unemployment rate to hold at 10%, but optimistic market-watchers hope the report will reveal improvements in the labor market, a key indication that the economic recovery is on track.

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Gary Kaminsky said on CNBC's "Fast Money" TV show that money fund managers will be selling on the news, regardless of what the report says. "Good news is bad news, and bad news is bad news," he said.

For a breakout of some stocks from a recent "Fast Money" TV show, check out Dan Fitzpatrick's "3 Stocks I Saw on TV."

3 Stocks I Saw on TV

Tim Seymour disagreed, saying that a better-than-expected jobs report, coupled with the Fed's vow earlier this week to keep interest rates low and signs of growth in the industrial and service sectors, is providing the kind of confidence to keep the market rally going.

Karen Finerman agreed with Seymour, saying that a good jobs report will encourage money from the sidelines to move into the market.

Joe Terranova said money so far this year has been allocated to commodities and materials, but not to equities. He said the key for traders tomorrow is to see where the money moves into equities after the jobs report is released.

As a hedge, Seymour said his firm has been buying puts in iShares MSCI-EMF(EEM Quote) for some near-term protection ahead of Friday's jobs report. "This is very cheap protection when we think the market is going higher," he said.

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Minutes from the December meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee revealed that opinions varied over several issues behind the group's unanimous decision to leave its key rate near zero, including inflation concerns and asset purchases. Although the Fed has repeatedly said that interest rates will remain low for an extended period, investors were looking to the minutes for any indication of how soon rate hikes could come.

>>Top 5 Large-Cap Stocks to Keep Rally Going

A mix of data reports in the morning kept stocks flat for much of the day. The Institute of Supply Management's December services index came in at 50.1, which wasn't far off from economists' expectations for a reading of 50.5 and up from November's level of 48.7.

Data showing services sector growth came after an earlier ISM report showed that its manufacturing index jumped to 55.9 in December, from 53.6 in November.

But nonfarm private employment decreased 84,000 from November to December on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the ADP National Employment Report. The estimated change of employment from October to November was revised by 24,000, from a decline of 169,000 to a decline of 145,000. Economists expected the ADP to report a decline of 75,000 jobs.

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Blue chips faced hard going partly because they had become overvalued. For five straight years in the late 1990s, large stocks soared and reached outlandish levels. Meanwhile, small stocks trailed and remained at reasonable price-to-earnings ratios. When the S&P 500 collapsed in 2000, small stocks stayed in the black. Since then, small companies have led most of the time. During 2009, small-blend funds returned 32%, compared with 29% for large blend.

Can large stocks take the lead this year? Perhaps. Many blue chips seem to be reasonably priced. The average large-blend fund has a P/E ratio of 14.9, lower than small blend's 15.4. In addition, large companies are benefiting more from fast-growing emerging markets.

To find promising choices, I screened for large-cap funds that excelled in the rollercoaster markets of 2009. I looked for funds that hold multinationals and other stocks that seem poised to profit from a global economic recovery. As a final check, I limited the group to portfolios that have moderate P/Es compared to their peers.

For investors who prefer growth stocks, my choice is Alger Spectra(SPECX Quote), which returned 57% in 2009, clobbering the S&P 500 by 30 percentage points. During the past five years, the fund returned 10.3% annually, outdoing 99% of its large-growth competitors.

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