Plan your week

IN AUGUSTA

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TUESDAY : Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce Eggs & Experts, presenter is Greg Baker, Computer Masters; 7:30 a.m.; Serotta Maddocks Evans CPAs, 701 Greene St., Suite 200, Augusta; $20 for members; (706) 821-1318

IN WASHINGTON

TODAY: Federal Reserve releases consumer credit data for January, 3 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Commerce Department releases wholesale trade inventories for January, 10 a.m.

THURSDAY: Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims, 8:30 a.m.; Commerce Department releases international trade for January, 8:30 a.m.; Freddie Mac releases weekly mortgage rates, 10 a.m.; Treasury releases federal budget for February, 2 p.m.

FRIDAY: Commerce Department releases retail sales for February, 8:30 a.m., and business inventories for January, 10 a.m.; Labor Department releases job openings and labor turnover survey for January, 10 a.m.

ON WALL STREET

The Standard & Poor's 500 index is in its fastest climb since 1955, doubling since the market bottomed March 9, 2009. In January and February alone, it's up 5.5 percent, the best start to a year since 1998.

After two bubbles in the past 10 years, investors are suspicious of consistent gains that seem too good to be true. But a range of measurements suggests the market isn't in the midst of a bubble now. Instead, it might simply be back to normal.

One sign of a bubble would be if stocks rose far beyond what's normal by historical standards, says Bill Stone, the chief investment strategist at PNC Asset Management Group. By that measure, it's not happening yet. According to Stone's research, since 1928, the average bull market runs almost five years and gains 164 percent. By comparison, this bull market has barely hit middle age.

The fundamentals of the stock market don't suggest a bubble, either. The S&P 500 index now trades at 17.4 times the earnings of its stocks over the past year. In March 1999, during the tech bubble, the multiple was 30.6.

Corporations are expected to make record profits this year and have enough cash -- $2 trillion -- to pay bigger dividends and start buying back shares of stock, both of which make stocks more valuable.