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Wall Street has finally gotten the piece of economic news it has been waiting for: the battered labor market may be starting to heal. But with major stock gauges at their highest levels in more than a year, recovery bets could already be baked into the cake. The week ahead brings a modest array of economic reports. Highlights include readings on retail sales, consumer sentiment and the trade gap. President Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are among the speakers on tap. But none of these events are likely to change the markets' direction much.

Through the end of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010, stocks are bound to stick to a narrow range, as investors hold onto gains off March lows and seek the next catalyst, said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group. "The broad averages are probably going to go sideways and for a while," Cox said. "It's not going to be as hard or as easy as it's been in the last 24 months, where everything rose, everything fell, then everything rose again. The next few months are going to be stock by stock."