Sunday, January 04, 2009

Weekly Outlook

Click here for Wall St. Week Ahead by Reuters.

Click here for stocks in focus for Monday by MarketWatch.


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


Economic reports for the week include:


Mon. – Construction Spending, Total Vehicle Sales


Tues. – Weekly retail sales reports, ISM Non-Manufacturing, Factory Orders, Pending Home Sales, Dec. 16 FOMC Meeting Minutes


Wed. – Weekly MBA mortgage applications report, weekly EIA energy inventory data, Challenger Job Cuts, ADP Employment Change


Thur. – ICSC Chain Store Sales, Initial Jobless Claims, Consumer Credit


Fri. – Change in Non-farm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate, Average Hourly Earnings, Wholesale Inventories


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


Mon. – Mosaic Co.(MOS)


Tues. – Global Payments(GPN), Acuity Brands(AYI), Supervalu(SVU)


Wed. – Constellation Brands(STZ), Monsanto(MON), Ruby Tuesday(RI), Bed Bath & Beyond(BBBY), Family Dollar(FDO)


Thur. – Chevron Corp.(CVX), Allscripts(MDRX), Apollo Group(APOL)


Fri. – KB Home(KBH)


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


Mon. – The Fed’s Yellen Speaking

Tue. – The Needham Growth Conference, Citi Entertainment/Media/Telecom Conference


Wed. – The Fed’s Hoenig speaking, Goldman Healthcare Conference, Needham Growth Conference, Citi Entertainment/Media/Telecom Conference, Consumer Electronics Show


Thur. – 10-year Treasury Auction, the Fed’s Hoenig speaking, (MON) R&D Pipeline update, Needham Growth Conference, Goldman Healthcare Conference, JPMorgan Tech Forum, Citi Entertainment/Media/Telecom Conference


Fri. – (GIS) analyst meeting, the Fed’s Lacker speaking, (MON) R&D Pipeline update


BOTTOM LINE: I expect US stocks to finish the week modestly higher on seasonal strength, diminishing financial sector pessimism, lower mortgage rates, bargain-hunting, short-covering, declining credit market angst and less forced selling. My trading indicators are giving bullish signals and the Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the week.

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