U.S. stocks look to further recent gains in December

Stocks will enter the month of December with a sense of optimism that much of the dismal environment for corporate profits has already been discounted by the market, even as upcoming reports, including the key jobs report on Friday, are expected to show the economic picture is still worsening.

Next week, "we'll have a slew of economic numbers, including what I expect to be a rise to 6.7% in unemployment in November," said Peter Cardillo, market economist at Avalon Partners.

However, "the market has already priced in another quarter or two of real bad economic news, and that things could start to stabilize in the second quarter" of next year, he said.

Dow's best 5-day gain ever

The market gained on so-called Black Friday, marking its fifth-straight session of gains, with grim prospects for retailers failing to dent optimism at the traditional start of the U.S. holiday-shopping season.

MarketWatch