If you're feeling good about the market, you're not alone. Take my hand as we go over some of this week's more uplifting headlines.

1. Silver arches return to gold
McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) is back to its McGrowing ways. The world's largest restaurant chain posted positive comps of 4.8% in February. The stateside component of that unit-level metric rose a mere 0.6%, but investors will take it.

The Big Mac daddy spooked the market a month earlier, posting a 0.7% decline in domestic comps for the month of January. The burger-frying chain had blamed bad weather for the slip, and February didn't seem much brighter.

Naturally, no one will celebrate a pedestrian 0.6% uptick in U.S. comps. The real feat here is that something that turned negative in January flipped back to a positive. The burger chain that rocked even during the darkest days of the recession still has it.

2. Breathe out, InterMune shareholders
InterMune (Nasdaq: ITMN) was one of this week's biggest winners, after the FDA advisory panel voted in favor of approving the company's pirfenidone treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis -- a lung malady that affects 200,000 patients in the United States and Europe alone.

InterMune hasn't reached the finish line. The FDA will voice its final verdict on May 4. Fellow Fool Brian Orelli points out that FDA rejections have followed similarly upbeat advisory panel votes, though InterMune's undeniably in a better place than it might otherwise be.

Investors aren't complaining, either. The stock has soared by roughly 170% so far this month.

3. Bigger than Bigelow
James Cameron may have lost out during Sunday night's Academy Awards, but Avatar remains a winner in IMAX's (Nasdaq: IMAX) eyes. The larger-than-life exhibitor enhancer delivered a monster quarter yesterday. Revenue nearly doubled, and its adjusted profit of $0.20 a share blew past Wall Street expectations.

The beauty behind the company's record quarter is that the best is probably yet to come. Avatar played a major part in the company's fourth-quarter showing, but the film didn't debut until mid-December. Just $54 million of the $218 million in box office receipts from IMAX screenings took place during last year's final quarter. The current quarter is where the real Avatar -- and now Alice in Wonderland -- gravy awaits.

4. If you build it, they will come -- to China
Despite warnings of a Chinese real estate bubble, and the country's government's efforts to keep growth in check, this is still compelling niche for investors who like discounted growth stocks.

E-House (NYSE: EJ) and recent spinoff China Real Estate Information (Nasdaq: CRIC) posted quarterly results that would turn any open house into a house party.

E-House's continuing revenue exploded 165% higher over the previous year's quarter, with earnings growing even faster. China Real Estate Info's top line more than doubled, with its adjusted profit of $0.13 a share clocking in well ahead of the $0.08 a share it earned a year ago. Despite the heavy octane, E-House and China Real Estate Info are trading at just 17 and 22 times their projected net income targets for this year, respectively. E-House's multiple shrinks to 12 if you look out to next year.

5. Pocket-sized pigskin
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) will get very popular with pro football fans, now that its Verizon Wireless arm has become the official mobile phone service of the NFL. The biggest gem of the four-year deal -- valued at $720 million -- is Verizon's new right to stream gridiron action to smartphone owners.

Verizon Wireless subscribers will be able to view the NFL Network, the RedZone live highlights channel, and even many entire games from their devices. However, they won't be able to stream all of the games, along the lines of DirecTV's (Nasdaq: DTV) deal with the NFL. Verizon also hasn't gone public with how much it will charge for the service.

Either way, Verizon should be doing a touchdown dance worthy of T.O. and Ochocinco.