Stock Market Poised at 14,000 Barrier

U.S. stocks finished a week of extraordinary highs, with the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index surging to record levels and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rising to a more than six-year high.

The stock market is poised to break a record, despite the gloomy housing market outlook.

(ABCNEWS)

The bull charged after the Dow's nearly 300-point rally last week. Sales at stores like Wal-Mart and Abercrombie and Fitch helped investors shrug off weaker overall retail orders in June.

"It's the strongest global market that we've seen in the history of measuring these things," said Jefferies and Co. chief market analyst Art Hogan.

When the market opens today, the Dow will flirt with a record-breaking 14,000 points.

The psychological significance of breaking a Dow milestone, some experts said, could help propel the index to 15,000 by year's end.

This week, big-name companies including IBM, Microsoft, Citigroup and Google will report second-quarter earnings.

"There is a lot of demand for goods and services, especially as it relates to consumer electronics, that I think will drive this market higher as we go into the fall," Hogan said.

The picture might not be quite as rosy for consumers.

The housing market continues to be a concern. "We could see a negative impact on the consumer and the U.S. economy by any of the concerns we have," Hogan said.

Also, oil prices have skyrocketed, reaching levels that haven't been seen since August 2006. Inflation also may be on the rise.

If you're invested in the S&P 500, with its roster of multinational companies, you own a piece of a world economy that continues to expand at a faster rate than the U.S. economy.

A healthy job market, combined with low inflation, make conditions seem ripe for continued consumer spending and possibly more market rallies in the days ahead, experts say.