Weekly Outlook

Click here for the weekly economic preview by Bloomberg.

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. – Consumer Credit

Tues. – Pending Home Sales, IDB/TIPP Economic Optimism Index, Minutes of March 18 FOMC Meeting, weekly retail sales

Wed. – Weekly EIA energy inventory report, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, Wholesale Inventories

Thur. – Trade Balance, Initial Jobless Claims, ICSC Chain Store Sales, Monthly Budget Statement

Fri. – Import Price Index, U. of Mich. Consumer Confidence

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

Mon. – Alcoa Inc.(AA)

Tues. – Sealy Corp.(ZZ)

Wed. – Shaw Group(SGR), Christopher & Banks(CBK), Circuit City(CC), Bed Bath & Beyond(BBBY), Progressive Corp.(PGR)

Thur. – Genentech(DNA), Pier 1(PIR), Rite Aid(RAD), VeriFone(PAY), Fastenal(FAST)

Fri. – General Electric(GE)

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

Mon. – Fed’s Yellen speaking, Fed’s Kohn speaking, Howard Weil Energy Conference

Tue. – (AWI) analyst meeting, Howard Weil Energy Conference, CSFB Global Real Estate Conference

Wed. – Fed’s Fisher speaking, (WBSN) analyst meeting, (AWI) analyst meeting, CSFB Global Real Estate Conference, Howard Weil Energy Conference

Thur. – (NVDA) analyst day, (EMKR) analyst day, (DNR) analyst meeting, CSFB Global Real Estate Conference, Howard Weil Energy Conference

Fri. – Fed’s Fisher speaking

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