Sunday, March 23, 2008

Weekly Outlook

Click here for a weekly market preview by MarketWatch.

Click here for stocks in focus for Monday by MarketWatch.

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

Economic reports for the week include:

Mon. – Existing Home Sales

Tues. – S&P CaseShiller Home Price Index, Consumer Confidence, Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index, weekly retail sales reports

Wed. – Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, weekly EIA energy inventory report, Durable Goods Orders, New Home Sales

Thur. – Final 4Q GDP, Final 4Q Personal Consumption, Final 4Q GDP Price Index, Final 4Q Core PCE, Initial Jobless Claims

Fri. – Personal Income, Personal Spending, PCE Core, Univ. of Mich. Conference

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

Mon. – Tiffany & Co.(TIF), Walgreen(WAG), Sonic Corp.(SONC)

Tues. – Fortress Investment Group(FIG), Jabil Circuit(JBL), Phillips-Van Heusen(PVH)

Wed. – Paychex Inc.(PAYX), Oracle Corp.(ORCL), PEP Boys-(PBY)

Thur. – Williams-Sonoma(WSM), Lennar Corp.(LEN), ConAgra Foods(CAG), Apollo Group(APOL), Fred’s (FRED), Accenture(ACN), Red Hat(RHT), McCormick(MKC)

Fri. KB Home(KBH)

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

Mon. – None of note

Tue. – (ADP) analyst meeting, CSFB Global Leveraged Finance Conference, Sidoti Emerging Growth Conference, Edward Jones Mid-Cap Utility Conference

Wed. – (WNC) analyst meeting, (WIND) analyst day, CSFB Global Leveraged Finance Conference, Sidoti Emerging Growth Conference, JPMorgan Gaming/Lodging/Restaurants Conference, Banc of America SMid Cap Conference, Lehman Brothers Energy and Pipeline Conference

Thur. – (MRO) analyst meeting, (EXR) analyst event, (SRE) analyst conference, JPMorgan Insurance Conference, Banc of America SMid Cap Conference, CSFB Global Leveraged Finance Conference, JPMorgan Gaming/Lodging/Restaurants Conference

Fri. – None of note

BOTTOM LINE: I expect US stocks to finish the week modestly higher on a firmer dollar, lower energy prices, short-covering, diminishing credit market angst and bargain hunting. My trading indicators are giving mixed signals and the Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the week.

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