Stocks may avoid shrinking

Published:  12 Mar at 4 PM

According to Reuters, stocks that looked like they would shrink this week, to the surprise of many analysts, did not. With more signs of a growing economy, stocks may be running higher during the upcoming week.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index saw another positive week last Friday, defying once again calls for a turnaround in five months. Friday also indicated the three-year mark of S&P 500's drop to a 12-year low, a move which came before a sharp recovery. The S&P 500 is still up 102% from its low point.

Scott Billeaudeau, who is portfolio manager with Minneapolis-based Fifth Third Asset Management says everyone is looking out for a correction, which tells him there will probably be another run-up before finding it. A lot of the optimism comes from signals of further progress in the American economy. Friday's better-than-expected employment rate report - the country’s most widely used economic indicator – helped boost the stock market.

The S&P 500 finished the week up by 0.1%, although on Tuesday it saw its weakest day thus far in 2012 due to concerns about a Greek default on American debt. Still, most investors brushed aside the news of a possible default, as a derivatives group announced that Greece had used legislation which forced losses on private creditors, triggering payments on default insurance contracts.