The Nasdaq fell a fraction of one percent, but the Dow and the S&P 500 posted gains on Friday as investors translated better-than-expected data on consumer sentiment and retail sales into economic recovery. For the week, the three indexes remained within one percentage point of the previous week’s figures.

Next week, the stock market is expected to fluctuate very little as investors wait for the Federal Reserve to release its statement on Wednesday at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting. Analysts are not expecting much to change, and that interest rates will remain low "for an extended period," as Ben Bernanke himself stated last week.

Low interest rates have encouraged investors to borrow dollars and to invest them in riskier assets, such as stocks, which can provide higher yields. The recent strength of the dollar is encouraging investors to see this as an opportune time to now liquidate some of their stocks.

Economic data to be released next week includes November industrial production on Tuesday and housing starts on Wednesday. Thursday will bring the leading indicators report and the weekly jobless claims. Positive data is expected and will serve to arrest fears that the economy will fall back into recession, even though unemployment is at ten percent, a 26-year high.

6 Stocks to Watch

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

Conagra Foods, Inc. (CAG)
H&R Block, Inc. (HRB)
International Paper Company (IP)
Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI)
Mylan Inc. (MYL)
Oracle Corporation (ORCL)

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