Stocks ended the week on a firm note, stretching the market's weekly winning streak to five weeks.
The Dow Jones rose for the sixth day in a row to close the week at 17,602, up 121 points, with banking titans Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan doing much of the heavy lifting.
The S&P 500 rose nine points to 2,050 and, like the Dow, is now showing a rise year-to-date.
The S&P 500's baby brother, the S&P 400, which covers mid-caps, is also in profit for the year and ended Friday eight points higher at 1,430.
The small-caps measure, the Russell 2,000, climbed 10 points to 1,102 but remains down 3% on the year.
A bit of activist interest has perked up the share price of property and water storage business PICO Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PICO), up 8.4% at $10.83.
Privately-owned investor advisory firm Central Square Management, which has built up a 6.1% stake in PICO, has had two of its representatives appointed to a board that is nonetheless going to become smaller after the next shareholders meeting.
ProNAi Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:DNAI) was another on the rise after announcing board changes.
The shares hardened 8.2% to $6.75 after the cancer treatment developer appointed Jeffrey Cooper and Tran Nguyen to the board.
Both have extensive and relevant experiences in guiding the financial functions of public healthcare companies, said Donald Parfet, ProNai's chairman.
On the big cap stage, bid stock Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc (NYSE:HOT) rose 5.5% after jilting suitor Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR) so it could bat its eyelashes at China's Angbang Insurance Group, which is leading a consortium that has made it a better offer.