Stocks rallied on this shortened holiday week as investors digested the latest round of healthy economic data and Q1 came to close. Volume totals on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq exchange were reported lighter compared to Wednesday's session. Breadth was positive, advancers led decliners by nearly a 3-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by almost a 3-to-2 ratio on the Nasdaq exchange. New 52-week highs trumped new lows on both exchanges yet again. Meanwhile, there were 43 high-ranked companies from the CANSLIM.net Leaders List made a new 52-week high and appeared on the CANSLIM.net BreakOuts Page, higher than the 16 issues that appeared on the prior session.

Stocks rallied on Monday as the US dollar fell after the government said consumer spending rose in February for a fifth consecutive month while personal income levels held steady. On Tuesday, stocks closed with modest gains after trading between positive and negative as investors digested a slew of economic data. Housing stocks sold off after the S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices was released. The 20-city home-price index unexpectedly rose +0.3% in January. The closely watched index tracks monthly changes of home prices in 20 metropolitan regions across the country and is used as a good proxy for the underlying health of the residential real estate market. Elsewhere, the Conference Board released its consumer sentiment index which rose to +52.5 in March, up from +46.4 in February.

Before Wednesday's opening bell, ADP, the country's largest private payrolls company, said US employers slashed -23,000 jobs in March which fell short of the Street's +40,000 estimate. Elsewhere, the Chicago PMI index grew to 58.8 but fell short of the Street's more robust 61 forecast. A separate report showed that factory orders grew +0.6% as the economy continues to improve. Wednesday also marked the end of the first quarter.

Stocks jumped on Thursday after the Labor Department said weekly jobless claims fell to the lowest level since 2008 which bodes well for Friday's much anticipated non-farm payrolls report. Many global markets are closed for holidays, the government will report March payrolls. The median of economists’ forecasts in a Bloomberg survey is for an increase of 184,000, the biggest in three years.

The benchmark S&P 500 Index currently has 4 distribution days while the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average have 3 since the March 1, 2010 follow-though-day (FTD). These distribution days have not been damaging, and normally it is considered healthy for the major averages to have less than 4 distribution days in a four week period. It is also a welcome sign to see the market continue to improve as investors digest the latest round of stronger than expected economic and earnings data. Remember that now that a new rally has been confirmed, the window is open to proactively be buying high quality breakouts meeting the investment system guidelines. Trade accordingly.

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PICTURED: The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index finished Q1 with its 5th consecutive weekly gain, making more progress above its long ago floor of support.

Modest gains from several influential groups helped underpin the major averages' gains on Thursday as the Broker/Dealer Index ($XBD +0.78%), Bank Index ($BKX +0.85%), and Retail Index ($RLX +0.40%) were among the groups that traded with a positive bias. The Healthcare Index ($HMO +1.63%) and Biotechnology Index ($BTK +1.16%) posted solid gains. Energy-related shares were mixed as the Oil Services Index ($OSX +2.63%) posted a solid gain but the Integrated Oil Index ($XOI -0.85%) fell. The tech sector had a quiet session as the Internet Index ($IIX +0.54%) tallied a small gain while the Networking Index ($NWX -0.07%) and Semiconductor Index ($SOX +0.10%) showed no decisiveness.

Charts courtesy www.stockcharts.com

PICTURED: The Gold & Silver Index ($XAU +3.63%) is rallying near March highs after promptly repairing its latest 50-day moving average (DMA) and 200 DMA violations.

Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc.  (ULTA -0.47 or -2.08% to $22.15) suffered a second consecutive loss today with slightly higher than average volume, a sign of mild distributional pressure this week. Its color code was changed to yellow while consolidating below its "max buy" level but staying above its pivot point. Prior chart highs are now a support level to watch, while any close below its $21.61 high close from January 8, 2010 would raise concerns by negating its latest technical breakout. A detailed Stock Bulletin with annotated graph was published soon after it was featured in the 3/12/10 mid-day report (read here) as a considerable gain with heavy volume helped it reach a new 52-week high.  It was noted as it rose from an 8-week cup shaped base following stronger results for the quarter ended January 31, 2010.

This high-ranked leader in the Retail - Misc group which has shown accelerating sales revenues increases.  Strong quarterly earnings increases above the +25% guideline in the 3 latest quarterly comparisons satisfies the C criteria. The number of top-rated funds with an ownership interest has grown from 49 funds in March '09 to 72 funds as of Dec '09 which is an encouraging sign of increasing institutional interest (the I criteria). Management's 51% ownership stake keeps the company's directors very motivated to look after and build shareholder value. Its current Up/Down Volume Ratio of 1.5 is an unbiased bullish indication concerning its recent action.  It has rallied from March '09 lows near $4, yet it has encountered very little distributional pressure during that period.  It now faces no resistance due to overhead supply.

Color Codes Explained :
Y - Better candidates highlighted by our staff of experts.
G - Previously featured in past reports as yellow but may no longer be buyable under the guidelines.