The Dow has ridden a relatively smooth glide path to 14,000 since the end of December, and now traders are watching to see what's out there that could disrupt the road to new highs.

With a light week ahead for economic reports and the final major week of the earnings season, there is not much on the calendar in the week ahead to cause the stock market's bull to stumble.

"Next week my biggest fear is it's such a low news week that we may shift our focus to "sequester cliff" and those budget negotiations in Washington," said Art Hogan of Lazard Capital. The sequester is the automatic spending cuts that take place March 1 if Congress does not act. While some economists think the economy could weather the "sequester," there is an anxiety about it in the market and that could grow.

With investors jaded by years of turbulence and low returns, the Dow's break through 14,000 did not trigger bells and whistles, but it should still portend a slow march higher for stocks.

The Dow crossed above 14,000 for the first time since October 2007 on Friday, after the ISM manufacturing index showed activity at a higher-than-expected 53.1 in January, up from 50.2 in December.

That came after January's employment report showed job growth, as expected, of 157,000 in January but revisions that put job growth closer to 200,000 in the fourth quarter. (Read More: Economy Adds Another 157,000 Jobs; Rate Up to 7.9%)

The S&P 500, meanwhile, which had crossed the psychologically key 1,500 level last Friday, continued its climb higher and was trading at 1,512. Bond yields slipped slightly, but commodities also rose in a risk rally, pulling metals and energy higher. The euro, the emblem of risk, briefly shot above 1.37, its highest level since November 2011.

U.S. drivers are now paying more to fill up their gas tanks than they ever have at this time of year.

The national average price of retail gasoline posted its biggest one-day increase in 23 months on Friday, rising four cents to $3.46 a gallon, according to AAA. The average price has risen 13 cents -- a 4 percent increase -- in the past week.

Gasoline prices have followed in part the climb in the stock and oil prices. Oil and equities have risen sharply over the last few weeks, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached 14,000 for the first time since 2007, Brent crude oil futures hit at 4-month high near $117 a barrel, while the U.S. oil price is near $98 a barrel.

Retail gasoline prices have also hit a new milestone.

"This is the highest price record for February 1st," says OPIS analyst Tom Kloza, who predicts the national average price of regular gasoline will climb a few more pennies to $3.50 a gallon this weekend.

NYMEX March RBOB gasoline futures, which help determine prices at the pump, have risen 10 percent in the past two weeks, finishing the week at $3.05 a gallon on Friday.

While there has been a lot of drama on the road back to Dow 14,000, it has been mostly an up move in the markets for the last four years, punctuated by a few hair-raising but brief down periods. (Read more: Stocks Jolted by Jobs Data; Dow Briefly Tests 14,000)

Currency wars are coming: Toyota Motor's happy, BMW is not. I've been talking about the coming currency wars for a while now. In Europe, the euro rally continues, at a 2.5-year high against the dollar, the yen collapse continues.

The U.S. at least gives lip service to a strong dollar, but Japan's Shinzo Abe has ignited the current currency wars by openly, blatantly declaring his intention to reflate Japan's economy by weakening the yen. The current head of the Bank of Japan will step down in April and will certainly be replaced with someone who will do Abe's bidding.

(Read More: Japan Leader Urges Swift Action From Central Bank)

Remember, one country's weak currency is another country's strong one: it's a zero sum game. In the past, currency wars have led to protectionism and capital controls, as well as tariffs as countries seek to protect their industries. Look what happened in the 1930s and 1970s when the U.S. finally abandoned the gold standard and devalued the dollar.

Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell on Friday:

Merck (MRK) - The drugmaker earned $0.83 per share for the fourth quarter, two cents above estimates, with revenue also beating consensus. Merck said it's rapidly advancing products it labels "first in class" through its pipeline.

Mattel - The toymaker earned $1.12 per share for the fourth quarter, three cents below estimates, with revenue slightly short, as well. That follows a failure by rival Hasbro to meet estimates as well in its quarterly report last week.

Newell Rubbermaid - The consumer products maker reported fourth-quarter profit of $0.43 per share, excluding certain items, one cent above estimates. Newell said it did well in 2012, despite a challenging economic environment.

Even if hiring improved last month, January's jobs report Friday should paint a picture of employers who remain hesitant to add to their ranks in a sluggish and uncertain economy.

Economists expect 160,000 non-farm payrolls were added in January and the unemployment rate stayed unchanged at 7.8 percent, according to Thomson Reuters. That would be just a tiny improvement over the 155,000 jobs added in December.

"We set a decent pace of hiring, roughly 150,000 a month for two years now," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities."It's not like were declining or flat-lining. We are creating jobs, but it's not what you expect in a recovery. We haven't had that burst of hiring. We've switched from recession to a mature level of expansion."

Check out which companies are making headlines after the bell Thursday:

While small, the sole exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on the initial public offering market continues to deliver impressive returns for investors.

The First Trust US IPO Index ETF hit an all-time high in January and has risen more than 30 percent over the last twelve months, making it the top performer among strategy ETFs, according to data from IndexUniverse.

That's twice as good as returns for the S&P 500 and better than the average IPO return last year of 20 percent.

Overnight, the debate among traders was the "death by slow growth" fear, the one thing that is not baked into the bull scenario this year. It's this: that the biggest worry of traders — some macro event like a meltdown in Europe, or a downgrade of U.S. debt, or a debt ceiling meltdown — never happens. Instead, what happens is that growth just does not materialize. That what upends the stock market this year is just boring no growth? Gads.

For the moment, that is not the dominant emotion. The gross domestic product decline was largely written off as a slowdown in defense and inventory de-stocking. The decline yesterday was mild, the volume normal.

Regardless: At some point, we will need to see more growth ... and not just from housing.