Weekly Outlook

Click here for Wall St. Week Ahead by Reuters.

Click here for stocks in focus for Monday by MarketWatch.

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

Economic reports for the week include:

Mon. – None of note

Tues. – IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index, weekly retail sales reports, Monthly Budget Statement

Wed. – Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Report, weekly EIA energy inventory data, Producer Price Index, Advance Retail Sales, Empire Manufacturing, Business Inventories, Fed’s Beige Book

Thur. – Consumer Price Index, Initial Jobless Claims, Net Long-term TIC Flows, Industrial Production, Capacity Utilization, Philly Fed, NAHB Housing Market Index

Fri. – Housing Starts, Building Permits, U. of Mich. Consumer Confidence

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

Mon. – Fastenal(FAST), Mohawk Industries(MHK), Charles Schwab(SCHW)

Tues. – PepsiCo(PEP), Johnson & Johnson(JNJ), Altera Corp.(ALTR), CSX Corp.(CSX), Genentech(DNA), Domino’s Pizza(DPZ), Linear Tech(LLTC), Intel Corp.(INTC), Polaris Industries(PII), Adtran Inc.(ADTN)

Wed. – Coca-Cola(KO), Abbott Labs(ABT), JPMorgan Chase(JPM), Wells Fargo(WFC), AMR Corp.(AMR), JB Hunt(JBHT), Xilinx Inc.(XLNX), eBay Inc.(EBAY), Shaw Group(SGR), Piper Jaffray(PJC), Delta Air(DAL), Novellus Systems(NVLS)

Thur. – Merrill Lynch(MER), Harley Davidson(HDI), United Technologies(UTX), BB&T(BBT), Bank of NY(BK), Citigroup(C), Illinois Tools Works(ITW), Stryker Corp.(SYK), Capital One(COF), Gilead Sciences(GILD), IBM Inc.(IBM), Baxter Intl.(BAX), Google Inc.(GOOG), Southwest Air(LUV), Nucor Corp.(NUE), Hershey Co.(HSY), Intuitive Surgical(ISRG)

Fri. – Honeywell Intl.(HON), Comerica Inc.(CMA), Schlumberger Ltd.(SLB), BlackRock Inc.(BLK)

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

Mon. – None of note

Tue. – (JCI) analyst presentation, Lazard Alternative Energy Conference, Wachovia Consumer Growth Conference

Wed. – (UGI) analyst meeting, (GPN) analyst day, (AUY) analyst day, (EW) analyst lunch, (KR) analyst day, (UMH) investor forum, (CHK) analyst meeting, Lazard Alternative Energy Conference, Wachovia Consumer Growth Conference

Thur. – (CHK) analyst meeting, (UMH) investor presentation

Fri. – None of note

BOTTOM LINE: I expect US stocks to finish the week modestly higher on bargain-hunting, technical buying, less credit market angst, diminishing financial sector pessimism and short-covering. My trading indicators are giving neutral signals and the Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the week.