Weekly Outlook

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

Economic reports for the week include:

Mon. – New Home Sales

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

Wed. – Weekly EIA energy inventory data, weekly MBA mortgage applications report, Durable Goods Orders, FOMC Rate Decision

Thur. – Advance 3Q GDP, Advance 3Q Personal Consumption, Advance 3Q GDP Price Index, Advance 3Q Core PCE, Initial Jobless Claims

Fri. – Personal Income, Personal Spending, PCE Core, Employment Cost Index, Chicago Purchasing Manager, Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence, NAPM-Milwaukee

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

Mon. – Humana Inc.(HUM), CNA Financial(CNA), Tidewater(TDW), Verizon(VZ), Arch Coal(ACI), Atheros Communications(ATHR), Royal Caribbean(RCL), Wendy’s Intl.(WEN), Buffalo Wild Wings(BWLD)

Tues. – McGraw-Hill(MHP), Smith Intl.(SII), Whirlpool(WHR), Boyd Gaming(BYD), Under Armour(UA), McKesson Corp.(MCK), Cephalon Inc..(CEPH), Centex Corp.(CTX), Valero Energy(VLO), Estee Lauder(EL), US Steel(X)

Wed. – Cardinal Health(CAH), Moody’s Corp.(MCO), Corning Inc.(GLW), MGM Mirage(MGM), Aetna Inc.(AET), Legg Mason(LM), General Motors(GM), CA Inc.(CA), Maxim Integrated(MXIM), MetLife Inc.(MET), JDS Uniphase(JDSU), Owens-Illinois(OI), Prudential(PRU), First Solar(FSLR), Visa Inc.(VISA), Jones Apparel(JNY), Murphy Oil(MUR), Newmont Mining(NEM), Office Depot(ODP), Hess Corp.(HES), Comcast Corp(CMCSA), Procter & Gamble(PG), Symantec(SYMC), Kellogg(K)

Thur. – Diebold(DBD), CME Group(CME), Strayer Education(STRA), CBS Corp.(CBS), Expedia Inc.(EXPE), International Paper(IP), IntercontinentalExchange(ICE), CVS/Caremark(CVS), Cigna Corp(CI), Eastman Kodak(EK), Motorola(MOT), International Game Technology(IGT), Monster Worldwide(MNST), Electronic Arts(ERTS), BMC Software(BMC), McAfee Inc.(MFE), Wynn Resorts(WYNN), Kla-Tencor(KLAC), Shaw Group(SGR), Apache Corp(APA), Exxon Mobil(XOM), Avon Products(AVP), Las Vegas Sands(LVS)

Fri. – NYSE Euronext(NYX), Chevron Corp.(CVX), Barnes Group(B), Burger King(BKC), Weyerhaeuser(WY), Clorox(CL), Cummins(CMI)

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

Mon. – BIOCOM Investor Conference, (AVID) investor day, (WMT) analyst meeting

Tue. – BIOCOM Investor Conference, Sidoti Emerging Growth Forum, (DPZ) analyst meeting, (PFE) analyst meeting, (PFWD) analyst meeting, (PLL) analyst meeting

Wed. – (KCI) analyst day, Sidoti Emerging Growth Forum, BIO Investor Forum

Thur. – BIO Investor Forum, (SPLS) analyst conference, (WAG) analyst meeting

Fri. – BIO Investor Forum

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, less forced selling and short-covering. My trading indicators are giving neutral signals and the Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the week.