Figures from the payrolls report on Friday led the stock market to post 15-month highs early in the day. By Friday’s close, index gains had moderated. For the week, the Dow rose 0.8 percent, the S&P rose 1.3 percent, and the Nasdaq gained 2.6 percent.

Job losses, expected to have fallen to 130,000 for the month of November, came in at only 11,000 losses, and the unemployment rate fell from 10.2 percent to 10.0 percent. While unemployment remains one of the two major concerns of investors, these surprisingly positive figures add confusion to the market outlook as investors anticipate whether the Federal Reserve will use the data to increase interest rates sooner than expected.

The other concern continues to be consumer spending. Next Friday’s consumer confidence survey will reveal preliminary figures for December, and are expected to show a slight rise from November. Also on Friday, retail sales data for November will be released. Excluding autos, retail sales are forecast to have risen 0.4 percent for November, up from October’s rise of 0.2 percent.

Next week, the House will debate regulatory reforms aimed at reducing the power of the Federal Reserve. On Monday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak against such reforms, which include provisions to audit monetary policy decisions.

On Tuesday, President Obama will speak at the Brookings Institute on the subject of creating jobs. He is expected to suggest offering tax incentives and using financial bailout funds to encourage businesses to hire workers.

12 Stocks to Watch

We're watching 12 stocks this week for potential breakouts. Our 12 stocks on the watch list are the following:

Broadcom Corporation (BRCM)
CSX Corporation (CSX)
Equity Residential EQR)
The Home Depot, Inc. (HD)
Honeywell International Inc. (HON)
Northeast Utilities System (NU)
Textron Inc. (TXT)
The Boeing Company (BA)
The Walt Disney Company (DIS)
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ)
Wisconsin Energy Corporation (WEC)
XL Capital Ltd. (XL)

Dave Mecklenburg is the Editor-in-Chief of TigerSharkTrading.com.