Stocks finished higher again on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) rising for a 10th straight day, something that hasn't occurred since November 1996.

The Dow closed up 84 points to 14,539. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) had its second-highest close ever at 1,563, just two points below its all-time closing high of 1,565.15. And the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) finished at 3,259, its highest level since November 7, 2000.

Many investors are waiting to see if the S&P 500 tops 1,565, its closing high on Oct. 9, 2007, and then what happens afterward. That new record looks likely to happen in the next few days. The index is up 131% from its March 9, 2009 bottom.

The Dow is up nearly 11% this year, with the S&P 500 up some 9.6%. For many bears, those are signals of a market that's getting too hot. Maybe not. On March 14, 2012, the S&P 500 was up 11% for the year. The Dow was up 8%.

The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is up 7.9% in 2013. But that's less than half the 16.7% gain for the year that the index enjoyed on March 14, 2012. Much of that appreciation, however, was due to the big price run-up that Apple (AAPL) saw.

For history fans, the 10-day streak is the longest since 10 sessions that ended on Nov. 15, 1996. That was just after then-Federal Reserve Chairman Allan Greenspan described the stock market was infected by "irrational exuberance."

What is true is the rally this year has been steady, with modest daily changes. The Dow's average daily change this year has been about 29 points, about 10 points higher than a year ago.

There are three more factors to consider.

• When the S&P 500 hit 1,516.15, it began to fade almost immediately, and the fade turned into a horrific rout in 2008. Many analysts worry that the major averages are getting ahead of themselves based on earnings growth, the economy and the uncertainty of politics in Washington. Those concerns are worth pondering.
• The Dow and S&P 500 are trading at nearly 10% above their 200-day moving averages. The relationship between the index and that moving average is a oft-watched measure  of investor confidence. The differences for the indexes hasn't been so high in a year.
• The 14-day relative strength indexes for the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all moved above 70 on Thursday. The indexes measure a stock's momentum, and a reading above 70 is often a signal that a market is overbought and due for a pullback. It should not be a big pullback.
  

Lastly, if General Electric (GE) falls, the Dow often follows. GE fell Tuesday and Wednesday but moved up 20 cents to $23.69 on Thursday. GE is up 12.9% on the year.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) was the Dow leader, up 61 cents to $21.93. It's up 54% this year. Chesapeake Energy (CHK) led the S&P 500, up $1.12 to $22.52. Sears Holdings (SHLD) was the best performer among Nasdaq-100 ($NDX) stocks up $1.48 to $52.49. The index was up 9 points to 2,807. It's up 5.5% on the year.