Forget worries about Greece or rising unemployment. The technical analysts who spend their time tracking the stock market's internal signals say all indicators point to more gains ahead.

These analysts forecast markets by following supply and demand for stocks, and they say there is enough strength and momentum in the current rally to push the market even higher.

'The moment sellers start to dump any stocks at all, buyers just snap them up,' says Paul Desmond, president of Lowry Research in North Palm Beach, Fla.

Mr. Desmond worries that the bull market eventually will end badly, as happened in 2000 and 2007. First, though, he expects more gains. 'We could easily be getting into a speculative advance here, a real momentum move' when stocks put in strong gains before finally topping out, he says. Technically speaking, signs of enthusiasm are everywhere.

The number of advancing stocks has steadily outnumbered decliners. And the percentage of U.S. stocks trading at 52-week highs recently moved above 40%, the highest level since 1982, according to Ned Davis Research.

Even more important, the gains are widespread and aren't showing signs of thinning out. When a bull market is nearing an end, weaker stock groups begin to turn down. Usually among the first to go are small stocks and those of companies most dependent on a strong economy.

Such stocks took a hit at the start of this year, sowing fears that the bull market could be in trouble. But, since early February, jackrabbits such as small stocks and computer-chip makers have roared back, rising faster than the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Since Feb. 8, the Dow is up 13% and the Russell 2000 small-stock index is up 27%.

The Dow closed Friday at 11204.28, its 10th weekly gain of the past 11 weeks. The Dow has risen 4,657 points, or 71%, since bottoming out in March 2009, although it is still 2,960.25 points shy of its 2007 record of 14164.53.

'There are no signs that the market is about to embark on a sustained decline,' says Phil Roth, chief technical market analyst at brokerage firm Miller Tabak in New York.

Still, stocks could have a temporary pullback at any time, he says. In fact, he expects one in the coming weeks, because it is common for traders to take profits after stocks have put in such strong gains. But he doesn't expect the decline to last. 'I am driven by the trend, and it is up,' Mr. Roth says.

Not everyone is upbeat, of course. Some fundamental analysts who compare stock prices with corporate profits worry that stocks are moving beyond levels that corporate performance justifies. Some consider technicalanalysisold-fashioned and backward-looking.

Stocks have soared so high in such a short period, the skeptics say, that an unexpected jolt of bad news could send them suddenly downward. History suggests, however, that stocks also can keep rising even when they are overpriced compared with average past levels.

Skeptics also note that it isn't that surprising for stocks to hit 52-week highs after being down so heavily a year ago. They question how long the strength will continue.

Some investors worry that optimism is too widespread. When everyone is a bull, the thinking goes, everyone's money already is in stocks. That leaves little cash on the sidelines to buy stocks and push markets higher, raising the risk of a decline.

Even if that were the case, says Mr. Desmond of Lowry, indexes typically keep rising even after the enthusiasm begins to die down.

Even after weaker stocks start to fall and the percentage of stocks hitting new 52-week highs begins to decline, it can take a year for the indexes to top out, he says. So far, those early warning signs haven't yet started flashing.

One important reason for stock strength is that there is plenty of cheap money floating around in the financialsystem, looking for a place to go. Since it can't all be put to productive use, much of the cheap money finds its way into stocks.

Helping keep money cheap, Federal Reserve interest rates are at historic lows, while market rates also remain low.

The benchmark for market rates is the yield of the 10-year Treasury note, which influences rates such as those on many home mortgages. When the 10-year yield recently reached 4%, fears spread that money would become tighter and stocks could suffer. But the 10-year yield then fell, and fears eased. It finished Friday at 3.81%.

Another much-watched indicator is the percentage of stocks trading above their average prices of the previous 50 trading days. When a large number of stocks are rising, meaning they are above their recent average levels, it is a sign of broad strength.

Currently, about 85% of U.S. stocks are above their averages for both the past 50 days and the past 200 days, says Tim Hayes, chief investment strategist at Ned Davis Research in Venice, Fla.

E.S. Browning

• greece [gri:s] n.希腊 (初中词汇)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中词汇)
• enthusiasm [in´θju:ziæzəm] n.热心；狂热；爱好 (初中词汇)
• steadily [´stedili] ad.坚定地；不断地 (初中词汇)
• percentage [pə´sentidʒ] n.百分数；比例；部分 (初中词汇)
• industrial [in´dʌstriəl] a.工业的，产业的 (初中词汇)
• weekly [´wi:kli] a.&ad.每周一次(的) (初中词汇)
• driven [´driv(ə)n] drive 的过去分词 (初中词汇)
• everyone [´evriwʌn] pron.=everybody 每人 (初中词汇)
• fundamental [,fʌndə´mentl] a.基本的 n.原理 (初中词汇)
• performance [pə´fɔ:məns] n.履行；行为；工作 (初中词汇)
• analysis [ə´næləsis] n.分解；分析(结果) (初中词汇)
• old-fashioned [´əuld´feʃənd] a.老式的；过时的 (初中词汇)
• surprising [sə´praiziŋ] a.惊人的；意外的 (初中词汇)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中词汇)
• system [´sistəm] n.系统，体系，制度 (初中词汇)
• productive [prə´dʌktiv] a.生产的；富饶的 (初中词汇)
• federal [´fedərəl] a.联邦的，联邦制的 (初中词汇)
• previous [´pri:viəs] a.先，前，以前的 (初中词汇)
• investment [in´vestmənt] n.投资；(时间等)投入 (初中词汇)
• unemployment [,ʌnim´plɔimənt] n.失业；失业人数 (高中词汇)
• technical [´teknikəl] a.技术的；专门性的 (高中词汇)
• internal [in´tə:nl] a.内部的；国内的 (高中词汇)
• dependent [di´pendənt] a.依赖的；从属的 (高中词汇)
• temporary [´tempərəri] a.暂时的 n.临时工 (高中词汇)
• unexpected [ʌniks´pektid] a.突然的；意外的 (高中词汇)
• downward [´daunwəd] a.下降的，向下的 (高中词汇)
• historic [his´tɔrik] a.有历史意义的 (高中词汇)
• venice [´venis] n.威尼斯 (高中词汇)
• eventually [i´ventʃuəli] ad.最后，终于 (四级词汇)
• widespread [´waidspred] a.广布的；普遍的 (四级词汇)
• embark [im´bɑ:k] v.上船；装载；开始 (四级词汇)
• miller [´milə] n.磨坊主；铣床(工) (四级词汇)
• warning [´wɔ:niŋ] n.警告；前兆 a.预告的 (四级词汇)
• forecast [´fɔ:kɑ:st] vt.&n.预测；预报 (六级词汇)
• speculative [´spekjulətiv] a.臆测的；投机的 (六级词汇)
• speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (六级词汇)