S&P breaks 1000 for first time this year

The US stock market has made the dismal lows of March look like a distant memory.

Stock indexes now stand at their highs for the year. Two of the indexes hit milestones Monday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index crossed the 1000 level for the first time since Nov. 4. The Nasdaq broke 2000 for the first time since Oct. 1, 2008, closing at 2008.61.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average also reached its highest level since Nov. 4, closing at 9286.56. That represents a 14 percent climb in just over three weeks.

Whether the rally is sustainable is anybody's guess with many forecasters suggesting that a long bout of weak growth lies ahead.

What is clear is that the Dow has rebounded more than a third (36 percent) from the plunge it endured between late 2007 through early 2009. (For the S&P, it's 37 percent.)

That's a dramatic recovery, even for skeptical bears.