Weekly Outlook

Click here for The Week Ahead by Reuters.

Click here for Stocks in Focus for Monday by MarketWatch.com.

There are several economic reports of note and some significant corporate earnings reports scheduled for release this week.

Economic reports for the week include:

Mon. – Existing Home Sales

Tues. – Consumer Confidence, August 7 FOMC Minutes, weekly retail sales

Wed. – Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications, Preliminary 2Q GDP, Preliminary 2Q Personal Consumption, Preliminary 2Q GDP Price Index, Preliminary 2Q Core PCE

Thur. – Initial Jobless Claims, Continuing Claims, House Price Index

Fri. – Personal Income, Personal Spending, PCE Core, Chicago Purchasing Manager, Factory Orders, Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence

Some of the more noteworthy companies that release quarterly earnings this week are:

Mon. – Shanda Interactive(SNDA), Winn-Dixie Stores(WINN)

Tues. – Borders Group(BGP), Corinthian Colleges(COCO), Micros Systems(MCRS), Sanderson Farms(SAFM), Tuesday Morning(TUES)

Wed. – Big Lots(BIG), Brown Shoe(BWS), Chico’s FAS(CHS), Coldwater Creek(CWTR), Dollar Tree Stores(DLTR), Energy Conversion Devices(ENER), Fred’s Inc.(FRED), Jo-Ann Stores(JAS), Joy Global(JOYG), Novell Inc.(NOVL), Quanex Corp.(NX), Tivo Inc.(TIVO), Williams-Sonoma Inc.(WSM)

Thur. – Brown-Forman(BF/A), Ciena Corp.(CIEN), Cost Plus(CPWM), Del Monte Foods(DLM), Dell Inc.(DELL), Freddie Mac(FRE), Genesco Inc.(GCO), H&R Block(HRB), Omnivision Technologies(OVTI), Sears Holdings(SHLD), Tiffany & Co.(TIF), United Natural Foods(UNFI), Wind River(WIND), Zale Corp.(ZLC)

Fri. – BearingPoint(BE), Dollar General(DG), Focus Media(FMCN), Shaw Group(SGR)

Other events that have market-moving potential this week include:

Mon. – None of note

Tue. – None of note

Wed. – None of note

Thur. – Moody’s State of the Credit Markets Weekly Update

Fri. – Fed Chief Bernanke in Jackson Hole

BOTTOM LINE: I expect US stocks to finish the week modestly higher on bargain-hunting, diminishing credit market fears, mostly positive economic data and short-covering. My trading indicators are giving neutral signals and the Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the week.