Weekly Outlook

Click here for The Week Ahead by Reuters.

Click here for Stocks in focus Monday by MarketWatch.

There are a number of economic reports of note and many significant corporate earnings reports scheduled for release this week.

Economic reports for the week include:

Mon. – None of note

Tues. – Monthly Budget Statement, weekly retail sales

Wed. – Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, weekly EIA energy inventory report, Advance Retail Sales, Business Inventories

Thur. – Trade Balance, Initial Jobless Claims

Fri. – Import Price Index, Empire Manufacturing, Net Long-term TIC Flows, Industrial Production, Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence

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

Mon. – Loews Corp.(LTR), Hasbro Inc.(HAS), CNA Financial(CNA), Cousins Properties(CUZ), Nuance Communications(NUAN), VeriFone(PAY), Lincare Holdings(LNCR)

Tues. – Wyndham Worldwide(WYN), Schering-Plough(SGP), General Motors(GM), Qwest Communications(Q), Wynn Resorts(WYNN), Panera Bread(PNRA), Blue Nile(NILE), Buffalo Wild Wings(BWLD), XM Satellite Radio(XMSR), Marsh & McLennan(MMC), Omnicom Group(OMC), Blackstone Group(BX), Molson coors(TAP), XTO Energy(XTO), Cephalon(CEPH), Masco Corp.(MAS), Applied Materials(AMAT)

Wed. – Dean Foods(DF), MGIC Investments(MTG), Coca-Cola(KO), Grubb & Ellis(GBE), PF Chang’s(PFCB), First Solar(FSLR), Agilent(A), Advance Auto Parts(AAP), Nvidia Corp.(NVDA), Vulcan Materials(VMC), Ingram Micro(IM), Bidu.com(BIDU), Network Appliance(NTAP), Jones Apparel(JNY), Titanium Metals(TIE), Mohawk Industries(MHK), Deere & Co.(DE), Wellcare(WCG), Genzyme(GENZ)

Thur. – Foundation Coal(FCL), Mack-Cali Realty(CLI), Marriott Intl.(MAR), Goodyear Tire(GT), Comcast Corp.(CMCSA), California Pizza Kitchen(CPKI), Clear Channel(CCU), Chipotle Mexican Grill(CMG), Georgia Gulf(GGC), Cognex Corp.(CGNX), Brocade Communications(BRCD), NetSuite(N), Applebees(APPB), Taser Intl.(TASR), Checkpoint Systems(CKP), priceline.com(PCLN), Hansen Natural(HANS), Patterson-UTI(PTEN), Express Scripts(ESRX), Lululemon(LULU), Ingersoll-Rand(IR)

Fri. – Abercrombie(ANF), Barnes Group(B), Campbell Soup(CPB), Hormel Foods(HRL), JM Smucker(SJM), Radian Group(RDN)

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

Mon. – (COT) analyst meeting, (MSFT) financial analyst briefing, (LVS) investor conference, Goldman Sachs Small/Mid-cap Financial Services Symposium, BIO CEO & Investor Conference, Lehman Brothers Industrial Select Conference, UBS Global Healthcare Services Conference, Citigroup Retail Conference, GSMA Mobile World Congress

Tue. – (DRI) analyst meeting, (ERTS) analyst meeting, UBS Global Healthcare Services Conference, Lehman Brothers Industrial Select Conference, BIO CEO & Investor Conference, Goldman Sachs Ag Conference, Citigroup Retail Conference, Merrill Lynch Insurance Investors Conference

Wed. – CSFB Software Conference

Thur. – (SE) analyst meeting, (PNX) investor day

Fri. – (KMT) analyst meeting

BOTTOM LINE: I expect US stocks to finish the week modestly higher on a firmer US dollar, mostly positive earnings reports, less economic pessimism, bargain hunting and short-covering. My trading indicators are giving mostly bullish signals and the Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the week.