Quietly, the Dow is on pace for its best month since 2011

Quietly, February has been a great month for stocks.

And right now, the Dow is on pace for its best month since October 2011.

In an afternoon email, the NYSE's Rich Barry pointed out that as it stands, the Dow is up more than 1,000 points - or better than 6% - so far this month to a new record high above 18,200.

As Barry wrote: "On February 2nd, the Dow opened at 17,169.99, and at its last plus-tick the index stood at 18,222.11. You guys do the math, but I'm pretty sure it's 1,000+ points to the upside."

If this gain holds, February would be just the third month in history that the blue chip index gained more than 1,000 points. And the last time the Dow gained more than 1,000 points in a month?

October 2011.

And so during a month in which markets were fixated on oil, Greece, and the Fed, US stocks have powered higher.

Not bad.