Watch Me TRADE's video: Dow Jones Industrial Average 110 points from highest close 2 28 13

"Everybody is focused on weak GDP in the fourth quarter and high unemployment. That's OK if you're an economist, but if you're an investor, you should really focus on the impact that monetary stimulus is having on the financial markets," said Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth Management in Des Peres, Mo. "We have two enormous opposing forces. On the one hand we have deleveraging, which we saw in the GDP numbers with government spending down. Then we have enormous stimulus, and it's pretty clear which side is winning," Skrainka added. After coming within 15 points of its all-time closing high of 14,164.53, set on Oct. 9, 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -0.15% shed 20.88 points, or 0.2%, to end at 14,054.49, leaving it up 1.4% for the month. See Hulbert on whether blue-chip index is setting a bearish trap. Rising 1.1% from the end of January, the S&P 500 index SPX -0.09% fell 1.31 point, or 0.1%, to 1,514.68, leaving it 50 points from its highest close, hit on Oct. 9, 2007. "On the days that (record) happens, the news media will tend to indicate with front-page headlines that the stock market is at an all-time high, and people get excited. My mom called me yesterday," said Jim Russell, chief equity strategist for U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Cincinnati. "Stocks are one of the few things people want to buy more of when they are expensive, but not when they are on sale," Russell added of the counterintuitive mode displayed by the retail investing public. Read about stocks that you should have bought at the October peak. But uncertainty on Wall Street likely will reign in the near term as politicians grapple with automatic cuts in federal spending otherwise known as sequestration scheduled to start at midnight Friday. "The next few weeks are unforecastable to a degree, there could be volatility in the equity market that is sourced from Washington," said Russell. "We've seen this movie before, and we know how it ends. Wall Street is wising up to the games that are played in Washington with regard to these deadlines," said Skrainka The Nasdaq Composite COMP -0.07% added 18.28 points, or 0.6%, to 3,180.70, leaving it ahead 1.2% for February. For every stock falling nearly two rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where 1 billion shares traded. Composite volume neared 3.7 billion. After offering little reaction to economic reports that had the U.S. economy growing 0.1% in the final quarter of 2012 and weekly jobless claims falling by 22,000 to 344,000, Wall Street drew a small lift from a measure of Chicago-area manufacturing, which hit an 11-month high in February. GDP numbers weakest since 2011 Michael Casey has details on disappointing fourth-quarter economic figures. Meanwhile, initial jobless claims ticked down last week. Photo: Getty Images Limited Brands Inc. LTD +2.29% climbed a day after the retailer reported fourth-quarter income rose. J.C. Penney Co. JCP -16.97% fell after the retailer reported a larger net loss. Figures from the Commerce Department had the U.S. economy clearing a prior-estimated contraction. See: Economy grew, just barely, in fourth quarter. At the same time, the Labor Department reported a larger-than-expected drop in jobless claims last week. Analysts said the proximity to those highs could lure in even more investors, and that the market was also coming to realize that the consequences of sequestration were perhaps not as gloomy as originally thought. Automatic spending cuts kick in Friday, barring a last-minute deal by lawmakers