MarketWatch’s top 10 stories, Feb. 4 - 8

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � The Standard & Poor�s 500 Index SPX , the broad benchmark for U.S. stocks, rose for the sixth week in a row. It�s been a long time since that happened. In fact, according to CNBC, it�s the first time since 1971 � when Three Dog Night�s �Joy to the World� topped the charts � that the S&P has risen for the first six weeks of the year.

The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP �also managed to put another week of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA �wasn't so lucky, breaking its string of weekly gains by edging 0.1% lower. But for some small individual declines on the day, the Dow would also have managed a sixth weekly gain.

The start augurs well for the year. In 1971 the S&P rose 10.79% and returned 14.56%. Time will tell if 2013 is as lucky as 1971.

On Friday, the Dow rose 48.92 points to close at 13,992.97, a gain of 0.4%, while marking a 0.1% drop for the week. The Nasdaq rose 28.74 points or 0.9% to close at 3,193.87 and notched a 0.5% gain for the week. The S&P added 8.54 points or 0.6% on Friday to close at 1,517.93. For the week the index rose 0.3%.

Check out MarketWatch over the weekend, we�ll have continuing coverage of winter storm Nemo and it�s impact on the Northeast, as well as all the retirement and personal finance news you need to organize your life and your portfolio.

Meanwhile, please check out our week ahead videos.

U.S. week ahead: State of the Union, G-20

Europe�s week ahead: Currency wars at G-20

� Christopher Noble, assistant managing editor

Proxy war

Dell Inc.�s DELL �bold bid to go private may now lead to a proxy war, as the PC maker�s largest institutional shareholder announced Friday that it plans to opposed the deal. Biggest Dell holder says �No� to buyout deal.

Cash out

Predicting anything that Apple Inc. AAPL will do is a somewhat risky game, but some analysts are betting that the company may crack open its massive, bulging wallet in the near future to return more cash to shareholders. Apple may crack open the wallet, analysts say.

Not overvalued

LinkedIn Corp. LNKD �got a significant amount of juice from its fourth-quarter earnings report, boosting its shares nearly 20% and setting an all-time high for the professional social network. Street says LinkedIn not over-valued...yet.

Sloppy thinking

Have you been gullible enough to believe all the recent talk about a Great Rotation? If so, Mark Hulbert has a bridge he wants to sell you. Great Rotation equals sloppy thinking.