2012 is shaping up thus far to be a lucrative year for bullish traders willing to put their money in equities. Despite a downgrade to Germany from boutique firm Egan Jones on Wednesday, markets shrugged off all kinds of news about Europe and pushed markets to their high point of the year thus far.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is fast approaching the 13,000 mark as it closed the day up 96 points at 12,578. The S&P 500 smashed through key technical levels, soaring past 1300 to close at 1308.

Many equity derivatives traders are of the consensus that we are back in bull territory and that the indices will continue to soar higher. One trader who preferred to remain anonymous noted that he sees “at least” another 40-50 points of upside in the S&P in the coming month – a bold prediction.

It didn’t hurt that major financial institutions are reporting quarterly earnings this week and are beating expectations. Companies that IPO’d in 2011 are back on the rise after taking nasty falls due to bearish sentiment on Internet stocks.