Nasdaq Futures

It was a fantastic week for markets overall, as news that the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in January and lessened fears about financial catastrophe in Europe helped push the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI  ) to its highest close since May 2008. Not to be outdone, the Nasdaq (INDEX: ^IXIC  ) closed at its highest level in more than a decade, spurred by strong gains from technology stocks.

The winners
While the three major indices clearly had a great week, some individual Dow companies fared even better. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) continued its remarkable run in 2012, finishing up 7.5% on the week. The company is now up more than 41% in just this year alone. Bank of America was one of the primary beneficiaries of the positive jobs report released Friday morning, which showed that the unemployment rate fell from 8.5% to 8.3%, a three-year low.

American Express was the Dow’s second biggest gainer of the week, up 4.8%. The company has now advanced by a solid 10.8% in just over a month in 2012. United Technologies (NYSE: UTX  ) was the week’s third biggest gainer, finishing up 4.4%. The aerospace and defense conglomerate reported solid earnings last week, with profit jumping 10.8% in its fourth quarter. United Technologies was also pushed up by stellar earnings from Goodrich, the company that agreed to be acquired by United Technologies last year.

Outside the Dow, there were some even bigger winners. Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA  ) finished the week up an incredible 40.6%, in large part because of Facebook’s IPO filing on Wednesday. Facebook relies on Zynga, the maker of popular games such as Farmville and Words With Friends, for a whopping 12% of its revenue.

While these companies had a phenomenal week, our chief investment officer has picked out one company that he believes will have a phenomenal full year in 2012. This company has so much promise that we’ve dubbed it “The Motley Fool’s Top Stock for 2012.” It highlights a company that is revolutionizing commerce in Latin America. You can get instant access to the name of this company for free.

It was a day of milestones for the market.

We were surprised on Friday morning by a positive jobs report. The resulting unemployment rate fell from 8.5% to 8.3%, a three-year low.

That drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI  ) up 1.23% to 12,862.23; the S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC  ) up 1.46% to 1,344.90; and the Nasdaq (INDEX: ^IXIC  ) up 1.61% to 2,905.66.

The Dow saw highs it hasn’t seen since May 2008. The Nasdaq? December 2000!

Bank of America leads the way
All but two of the Dow’s 30 components were up for the day, but Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) was by far the biggest winner, up 5.2%. It also led all gainers for the week at 7.5%. And year-to-date (basically a month), it’s up a whopping 41%!

Today reinforces that good news for the economy is good news for banking and great news for the banking laggards. Fellow doghouse tenant Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) was up 4.8% Friday (28% for the year).

To keep things in perspective, Bank of America’s shares have been beaten down so low that a 41% gain still has them trading at just over half of 52-week highs.

If we’re in the middle of a strong economic recovery, Bank of America and Citigroup shares could be given huge boosts. On the other hand, if European woes or Chinese bubbles throw the world economy into a tailspin, B of A and Citi will have their work cut out for them.

The bottom line
I’m bullish on shares of both Bank of America and Citigroup barring an economic meltdown, but they’re quite complex and opaque. So tread carefully.

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A much-better-than-expected jobs report sent the entire stock market soaring, but the possibility of seeing true strength in an economic recovery was especially good for technology stocks. As of 3:15 p.m. EST today, the Nasdaq Composite (INDEX: ^IXIC  ) was trading at its highest level since December 2000, up 47 points to 2,907.

Yet while tech stocks were broadly higher, most of the leaders in the index were outside the tech sector. Biotech Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD  ) vaulted higher on news that its GS-7977 drug to treat hepatitis C showed extremely positive results in a study. The news overcame a mixed quarterly report, in which Gilead said revenue grew but earnings fell short of estimates.

Retailer Urban Outfitters (Nasdaq: URBN  ) soared more than 5% after saying yesterday that it would bring back Tedford Marlow, who retired from his role as president of the Urban Outfitters brand in 2010, to assume his previous post. He’ll work under founder Richard Hayne, who took over the CEO role last month. Urban Outfitters also got an upgrade from an analyst on the news.

Steel Dynamics (Nasdaq: STLD  ) rose almost 4% in afternoon trading. Unlike many steel companies, Steel Dynamics focuses mostly on the U.S. market, so an improvement in the economic picture here helps it even more than it helps more global players in the industry.

Among the few declining stocks in the Nasdaq was Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN  ) , falling almost 5% after releasing earnings last night. The casino operator saw slower growth in Macau during the fourth quarter, and as Fool gaming analyst Travis Hoium pointed out, that suggests that interest is moving to the Cotai Strip, where competitors are performing well. Wynn is planning a Cotai development of its own, but time seems to be of the essence.

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