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CHARLOTTE -- On the one-year anniversary of the stock market's lowest point of the recession, investors are crossing their fingers hoping market keeps trending upward.

Since March 2009, a slowly improving economy has helped bump stock prices up and that’s helped some savvy investors make a good chunk of change.

"Everyone was complaining about how low it was last year, so I said, ‘hmmm, good time to buy, so that's what I did," said Sean Busher, of Charlotte.

A year later, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is in the middle of its biggest 52-week gain after a bear market low since 1933. On March 9, 2009, it sat at about 6,547. On Monday, it closed at 10,552, a 61-percent increase.

"The good news is we're through the darkest days of the recession," said UNC Charlotte economist Tony Plath.

Plath says the turnaround is helping some North Carolina-based stock prices. Bank of America is up from $3.75 to nearly $17; Duke Energy was at $11.81 a year ago and ended Monday at $16.53; and Lowe's Home Improvement is selling at more than $24, up from $13.68.

"The local companies will do well because they're positioned in industries that are likely to benefit from a consumer recovery," said Plath.

But until consumers start spending money more often and unemployment levels improve, the economist says the market will be unpredictable.

"The one thing we know for sure, the market is going to go up and the market's going to go down. This is going to be a volatile year and we'll have to see how this plays out," he said.

In the last year, the NASDAQ is up 84 percent while the S&P 500 rose 68 percent.