The stock market closed on Friday with all three major indexes having advanced during the day. The Dow was up 70 points and closed at 10,997, the S&P 500 was up nearly 8 points and closed at 1194, and the Nasdaq was up 13.7 points and closed at 1994. For the week, the Dow gained 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.4 percent, and the Nasdaq gained 2.1 percent.

Next week, investors’ attention will be drawn to first-quarter corporate earnings reports. A larger percentage of positive outlooks than usual have already been announced, and analysts expect this quarter to be the second in a row to show year-over-year growth in profits. Still, the stock market’s uptrend seems to have already factored in these positives.

Reports by financial institutions will be of particular interest now that investors have run up the stock prices in that sector. Bank of America (BAC ) and JP Morgan Chase (JPM), the two largest banks in the US, are both scheduled to report in the coming week. Other corporations of special interest are Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), and General Electric (GE).

On Wednesday, the U.S. Consumer Price Index for March will be released, and, as in previous months, inflation appears to be of little concern. Also Wednesday, retail sales data for March will be released and is expected to have risen 1.2 percent over February.

On Thursday, industrial output for March is forecast to show a 0.7 percent increase over the February figure. On Friday, March housing starts are expected to reach 610,000 units annually, compared to February’s 575,000 units. And the preliminary figure on consumer sentiment for April is projected to hit 75; the final March figure was 73.6.

Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank Ben Bernanke will speak to Congress’ Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday. Despite continuing improvement in economic data, the Fed continues to maintain near-zero interest rates, but investors continue to maintain watch for any hint of a change in that policy.

13 Stock to Watch

We're watching 13 stocks for follow-through this week. The 13 stocks:

Con-way Inc. (CNW)
Charles River Laboratories (CRL)
Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (DKS)
Dover Corporation (DOV)
DaVita Inc. (DVA)
Fortune Brands, Inc. (FO)
The Hershey Company (HSY)
Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL)
Lexmark International, Inc. (LXK)
Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. (OSG)
Terex Corporation (TEX)
Waters Corporation (WAT)
Weyerhaeuser Company (WY)

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