NEW YORK — Third-quarter earnings season has created something of a paradox: an increase in profit warnings, yet decent rallies in the stock market.

        If you factor in the vast political and economic uncertainty after the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the spread of anthrax, it's even harder to imagine why anyone would want to buy stocks.

        “People want (to be) in there. They want to buy stocks. They want to see the glass half full,” said Woody Dorsey, president of Market Semiotics, a financial fore casting firm in Castleton, Vt.

        Market analysts have several theories about this curious combination. They say investors probably don't want to miss out on the next big rally, or the start of a new bull market. Investors might be betting that the market can't fall much harder than it did in the first week of trading following the attacks, when they pulled $1.2 trillion from Wall Street.

        “The market is perhaps looking at the worst being over,” said Gary Kaltbaum, market technician for Investors' Edge Partners.

        Others say investors have become used to news about anthrax cases, terrorism and earnings disappointments, and for now are willing to place bets on business improving next year.

        “The philosophy that the economy is going to pick up in the first or second quarter is overshadowing any fears of terrorist attacks,” said Richard A. Dickson, a techni cal analyst at Hilliard Lyons in Louisville, Ky.

        Strength is apparent in the major stock indexes. The Dow Jones industrials, which had triple-digit rallies Monday and Thursday, has recouped all but 60 of the 1,369 points lost that first week. The Nasdaq Composite Index is 73 points above where it stood Sept. 10; the Standard & Poor's 500 index, up about 12.

        For the week, the Dow climbed 341.06, or 3.7 percent, after advancing 82.27 to 9545.17 Friday. The Nasdaq rose 97.65, or 5.8 percent, for the week after declining 6.51 to 1768.96 Friday. The S&P 500 ended the week up 31.31, or 2.9 percent, after rising 4.52 to 1104.61 Friday. The Russell 2000 index, the barometer of smaller company stocks, advanced 12.95, or 3.0 percent, for the week, finishing Friday up 2.69 at 438.65.

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