Never has losing 247,000 jobs in the span of just four weeks looked so good.

Buoyed by that figure and the first drop in the unemployment rate in 15 months, stocks were off to the races Friday as Wall Street’s recovery hopes received a big shot of confidence.

Today’s Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 113.81 points, or 1.23%, to 9370.07, the Standard & Poor's 500 added 13.40 points, or 1.34%, to 1010.48 and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 27.09 points, or 1.37%, to 2000.25. The consumer-friendly FOX 50 climbed 7.77 points, or 1.07%, to 736.88.

Handed the clearest sign yet that the recession is at or near an end, Wall Street bid up stocks for the fourth consecutive week. The latest rally, which came on top of the best July in two decades, left the S&P 500 at its highest level since early October, which coincided with the height of the credit crisis that destroyed trillions of dollars of market value.

“The bottom line is we are in full go mode right here. Everything is clicking: financials, the dollar, lower energy,” said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Capital Markets. “The fundamentals are going to catch up with market valuations. That’s what the market is telling us.”

Friday's data clearly lend credence to Wall Street’s summer surge, which has pushed the markets more than 50% above their March levels on hopes for a second-half economic recovery.

“As long as the economic data continue to come in better, we really do see more upside for the market. We still think there is fuel in there,” said Ryan Detrick, equity analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment Research. “If it keeps going up, it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy as the money continues to chase this market.”

Ending a rare two-day slide, the Dow ended at its highest level since Nov. 4. Almost all 30 blue-chip stocks closed in the green, led by financial components American Express (AXP), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and General Electric (GE). Non-financials like Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Disney (DIS) also posted strong gains. Tech giants Cisco (CSCO) and Intel (INTC) closed slightly lower. 

“Clearly that employment number just reversed everything. For the moment, the direction clearly is up,” NYSE trader Ted Weisberg of Seaport Securities told FOX Business.

Friday’s rally started when the Labor Department said the U.S. lost 247,000 jobs in July, an historically-high figure but well below economists’ forecast for a loss of 300,000 jobs. It’s also the lowest figure since August 2008 and considerably better than the average of almost 700,000 jobs lost each month in the beginning of 2009.

At the same time, the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell from 9.5% in June to 9.4% last month. That could further boost market sentiment as some had feared unemployment would eclipse the psychologically-important 10% threshold as early as July.

While hardly pretty, the jobs report continues the recent theme of “less bad” economic data that have fueled Wall Street’s huge rally from multiyear lows in March. In fact, the jobs figures have lagged behind improvement seen in other gauges on manufacturing, consumer spending and housing.

Despite the gigantic gains on Wall Street, there are still those who say the rally is built on sticks and stocks have risen too far, too fast.

“The last time that chorus was heard -- and it was pretty much unanimous -- was five weeks ago. What’s happened since then? We put in the best July in two decades,” said Kenny.

Underscoring the increased risk appetite on Wall Street, cash cycled out of the bond markets on Friday, sending the yield on the 10-year note to its highest level since June 11.

Despite the economic optimism, crude failed to join the rally as the dollar soared more than 1% on the jobs report. Crude fell $1.01 a barrel, or 1.4%, to $70.93.

Now that earnings season is coming to a close, the jobs report is out of the way and politicians in Washington are on recess, it’s not clear what the next driver for the markets will be. Despite his bullishness, Kenny preaches caution.

“Recent history has suggested that August surprises those who become complacent,” said Kenny, alluding to the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September that nearly caused a Depression. He urged investors “not to ring the cash register but cover yourself in the event there’s some unforeseen market trigger that forces it lower.”

Corporate Movers

American International Group (AIG), the bailed-out insurer, reported a quarterly profit of $2.30 a share -- its first profit since 2007. Analysts had been expecting just $1.67 a share. Controversial AIG said some of its businesses have stabilized, including its financial products unit, which trimmed its $6.2 billion loss from a year ago to just $132 million.

Nvidia (NVDA) climbed to 52-week highs as shareholders cheered the graphic chip maker’s unexpected adjusted-profit of 7 cents a share. The tech company also reported a better-than-expected decline of 13% in revenue and an upbeat outlook.

CBS (CBS) saw its shares jump nearly 30% a day after the company disclosed a 96% plunge in quarterly profit. The media powerhouse’s adjusted-profit of 8 cents a share topped estimates and CEO Leslie Moonves noted “early signs of a recovery took hold in the second quarter.” Analysts also cheered the results as JPMorgan Chase, Jefferies and Morgan Stanley all upped their price targets on CBS.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) tumbled more than 11% after the British bank surprised analysts by posting a first-half loss of $1.7 billion. RBS, which is 70% owned by the U.K. government, also warned that its results will be “poor” for the next two years amid the weak economy.

Citigroup (C) is considering transforming its secretive commodity unit Phibro into a partnership headed by Andrew Hall, its $100 million man, The New York Times reported. Under this plan, Citi would be a limited partner, reducing its share of Phibro’s profits, the paper reported. Citi is also reportedly considering reworking Hall’s contract, bringing in new leadership or shutting down the unit.

Beazer Homes (BZH) helped lead a huge rally in the homebuilder sector, soaring 15%, after the company narrowed its quarterly loss to 72 cents a share. Beazer’s revenue tumbled 50.7% to $224.7 million, above the Street’s view of $219.58 million.

Crocs (CROX) surged 30% to one-year highs after the footwear company’s fourth-straight quarterly loss beat the Street. Crocs said its revenue tumbled 11% to $197.7 million, topping its own guidance, and said it expects to turn a profit next year. 

Delta Air Lines (DAL) is cutting an undisclosed number of management and administration positions, according to a recorded message and a memo from top execs obtained by The Associated Press. Executives from the world’s largest airliner also reportedly said they “do not expect our revenues to significantly improve through the remainder of the year.”

Global Markets

Thanks to the jobs report, European markets capped off their fourth consecutive week of gains in the green. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.87% to 4731.56, Germany's DAX climbed 1.66% to 5458.96 and France's CAC 40 advanced 1.25% to 3521.14.

Asian markets closed mixed as Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.23% but Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 2.51% to 20375.37.