Weekly Outlook

Click here for The Week Ahead by Reuters.

Click here for Stocks in focus Monday by MarketWatch.

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

Economic reports for the week include:

Mon. – None of note

Tues. – Monthly Budget Statement, weekly retail sales

Wed. – Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, weekly EIA energy inventory report, Advance Retail Sales, Business Inventories

Thur. – Trade Balance, Initial Jobless Claims

Fri. – Import Price Index, Empire Manufacturing, Net Long-term TIC Flows, Industrial Production, Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence

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

Mon. – Loews Corp.(LTR), Hasbro Inc.(HAS), CNA Financial(CNA), Cousins Properties(CUZ), Nuance Communications(NUAN), VeriFone(PAY), Lincare Holdings(LNCR)

Tues. – Wyndham Worldwide(WYN), Schering-Plough(SGP), General Motors(GM), Qwest Communications(Q), Wynn Resorts(WYNN), Panera Bread(PNRA), Blue Nile(NILE), Buffalo Wild Wings(BWLD), XM Satellite Radio(XMSR), Marsh & McLennan(MMC), Omnicom Group(OMC), Blackstone Group(BX), Molson coors(TAP), XTO Energy(XTO), Cephalon(CEPH), Masco Corp.(MAS), Applied Materials(AMAT)

Wed. – Dean Foods(DF), MGIC Investments(MTG), Coca-Cola(KO), Grubb & Ellis(GBE), PF Chang’s(PFCB), First Solar(FSLR), Agilent(A), Advance Auto Parts(AAP), Nvidia Corp.(NVDA), Vulcan Materials(VMC), Ingram Micro(IM), Bidu.com(BIDU), Network Appliance(NTAP), Jones Apparel(JNY), Titanium Metals(TIE), Mohawk Industries(MHK), Deere & Co.(DE), Wellcare(WCG), Genzyme(GENZ)

Thur. – Foundation Coal(FCL), Mack-Cali Realty(CLI), Marriott Intl.(MAR), Goodyear Tire(GT), Comcast Corp.(CMCSA), California Pizza Kitchen(CPKI), Clear Channel(CCU), Chipotle Mexican Grill(CMG), Georgia Gulf(GGC), Cognex Corp.(CGNX), Brocade Communications(BRCD), NetSuite(N), Applebees(APPB), Taser Intl.(TASR), Checkpoint Systems(CKP), priceline.com(PCLN), Hansen Natural(HANS), Patterson-UTI(PTEN), Express Scripts(ESRX), Lululemon(LULU), Ingersoll-Rand(IR)

Fri. – Abercrombie(ANF), Barnes Group(B), Campbell Soup(CPB), Hormel Foods(HRL), JM Smucker(SJM), Radian Group(RDN)

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

Mon. – (COT) analyst meeting, (MSFT) financial analyst briefing, (LVS) investor conference, Goldman Sachs Small/Mid-cap Financial Services Symposium, BIO CEO & Investor Conference, Lehman Brothers Industrial Select Conference, UBS Global Healthcare Services Conference, Citigroup Retail Conference, GSMA Mobile World Congress

Tue. – (DRI) analyst meeting, (ERTS) analyst meeting, UBS Global Healthcare Services Conference, Lehman Brothers Industrial Select Conference, BIO CEO & Investor Conference, Goldman Sachs Ag Conference, Citigroup Retail Conference, Merrill Lynch Insurance Investors Conference

Wed. – CSFB Software Conference

Thur. – (SE) analyst meeting, (PNX) investor day

Fri. – (KMT) analyst meeting

BOTTOM LINE: I expect US stocks to finish the week modestly higher on a firmer US dollar, mostly positive earnings reports, less economic pessimism, bargain hunting and short-covering. My trading indicators are giving mostly bullish signals and the Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the week.

Market Week in Review

S&P 500 1,331.29 -4.6%*

Click here for the Weekly Wrap by Briefing.com.

*5-day Change

Weekly Scoreboard*

Indices
S&P 500 1,331.29 -4.6%
DJIA 12,182.13 -4.4%
NASDAQ 2,304.85 -4.5%
Russell 2000 698.90 -4.3%
Wilshire 5000 13,424.80 -4.4%
Russell 1000 Growth 549.32 -3.83%
Russell 1000 Value 733.21 -5.2%
Morgan Stanley Consumer 681.70 -2.26%
Morgan Stanley Cyclical 930.3 -5.5%
Morgan Stanley Technology 531.62 -5.2%
Transports 4,711.67 -2.0%
Utilities 494.39 -3.1%
MSCI Emerging Markets 132.93 -3.9%

Sentiment/Internals
NYSE Cumulative A/D Line 59,290 -1.2%
Bloomberg New Highs-Lows Index -443
Bloomberg Crude Oil % Bulls 6.0 -70.0%
CFTC Oil Large Speculative Longs 205,649 -2.9%
Total Put/Call 1.13 +37.8%
NYSE Arms 1.2 +71.4%
Volatility(VIX) 28.0 +16.6%
ISE Sentiment 94.0 -24.8%
AAII % Bulls 34.1 +13.4%
AAII % Bears 47.2 -3.4%

Futures Spot Prices
Crude Oil 91.7 +3.3%
Reformulated Gasoline 235.40 +3.3%
Natural Gas 8.26 +7.1%
Heating Oil 255.35 +4.1%
Gold 926.50 +1.7%
Base Metals 237.04 +.9%
Copper 351.6 +7.2%

Economy
10-year US Treasury Yield 3.64% +6 basis points
4-Wk MA of Jobless Claims 335,000 +2.6%
Average 30-year Mortgage Rate 5.67% -1 basis point
Weekly Mortgage Applications 1,086,600 +3.0%
Weekly Retail Sales +.5%
Nationwide Gas $2.97/gallon -.02/gallon.
US Heating Demand Next 7 Days 5% below normal
ECRI Weekly Leading Economic Index 133.5 +1.8%
US Dollar Index 76.65 +1.6%
CRB Index 375.67 +3.1%

Best Performing Style
Large-cap Growth -3.8%

Worst Performing Style
Large-cap Value -5.2%

Leading Sectors
Airlines -.26%
Medical Equipment -1.2%
Oil Service -1.4%
Restaurants -1.7%
Steel -1.9%

Lagging Sectors
REITs -7.3%
Construction -7.7%
I-Banks -8.1%
Banks -8.4%
Homebuilders -10.7%

One-Week High-Volume Gainers

One-Week High-Volume Losers

*5-Day Change

Stocks Mostly Lower into Final Hour on Jump in Energy Prices

BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio is higher into the final hour on gains in my Internet longs, Computer longs, Medical longs, Software longs and Retail longs. I have not traded today, thus leaving the Portfolio 75% net long. The overall tone of the market is mildly negative as the advance/decline line is slightly lower, sector performance is mixed and volume is above average. Investor anxiety is high again. Today’s overall market action is neutral. The VIX is rising 2.7% today to a high 28.40. The ISE Sentiment Index is a low 88.0 and the total put/call hit a high 1.27 this morning. Growth stocks are substantially outperforming value stocks today, with many positing meaningful gains. I suspect another significant rotation is underway. As well, many market leading stocks are firm to higher. This is much healthier, in my opinion, than seeing the most heavily-shorted and beaten up stocks lead the broad market. OPEC’s talk of production cuts, with oil near record highs, and abandoning the US dollar is mind-bogglingly short-sighted, in my opinion, and just raises the odds for an oil price crash in the future. This is likely one of the main reasons energy-related stocks aren’t displaying more upside with oil back above $90/bbl. Moreover, oil at current prices makes it harder for the Fed to maintain its aggressive stance, thus increasing the odds of a more meaningful global slowdown. The 10-year yield is falling 11 basis points today. I expect better economic data over the coming weeks and diminishing bond insurer uncertainty to provide upside catalysts from current levels. (GOOG) is rising for the third day out of the last four. I still think the shares anywhere near current prices are providing investors with an excellent entry point as growth remains very healthy and the p/e multiple begins expanding again. Nikkei futures indicate a -42 open in Japan and DAX futures indicate a +7 open in Germany on Monday. I expect US stocks to trade modestly higher into the close from current levels on bargain-hunting and short-covering.

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Bear Stearns(BSC), the US firm that posted its first-ever loss last quarter on mortgage writedowns, is betting more than $1 billion that subprime home loans and bonds will continue to decline.
- Copper is rising another 2.4%, heading for its biggest weekly gain since May 2006, as inventories fell to the lowest level in more than three months.
- Oil is rising $3.41/bbl. to $91.44/bbl. after OPEC said it may cut oil production despite the fact that record prices for the commodity are greatly contributing to the global economic slowdown and that it may abandon the US dollar for the euro in pricing oil.
- Amazon.com(AMZN) posted its biggest two-day gain since November after saying it plans to buy back as much as $1 billion of stock in the next two years.
- Google Inc.(GOOG) hasn’t received formal objections from EU regulators about its proposed $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick(DCLK), indicating the EU is close to approving the deal.
- McDonald’s(MCD), the world’s largest restaurant company said comparable-store sales at US outlets rose 1.9%, more than the 1.5% increase it had previously forecast.
- OPEC may cut crude production when it meets next month to keep the price near record levels.

Wall Street Journal:
- Internet Logjams Spur Cable Boom. Seven years after a telecom boom and bust created a glut of fiber optical cable and destroyed $2 trillion in stock-market wealth, another building binge is on.
- Retailers in the US are turning to the Internet to sell to shoppers abroad in hopes of easing the pain of an economic slowdown at home.
- Toyota Motor(TM) is offering 7-year loans on new cars to help dealers boost sales.
- Now that the excitement of Super Tuesday has passed, we should remember the kinds of policies and principles at stake, Exhibit A: three pieces of legislation pending in Congress that would dramatically increase the liability of private companies for alleged acts of employment discrimination.

NY Times:
- Seattle Becomes New Destination for Venture Capital.

CNBC:
- An agreement for a bailout of bond insurers Ambac Financial(ABK) and FGIC Corp. might be reached as early as next week.

Social Science Research Network:
- Do Hedge Funds Profit from Mutual-Fund Distress?

CNNMoney.com:
- Unusual Perks: Goldman Sachs’(GS) Health Insurance Covers Sex Changes.

Reuters:
- The US dollar fell against the euro after a magazine report said OPEC may adopt the euro and abandon the US dollar when pricing oil.

Financial Times:
- PGGM, Europe’s second largest pension fund, has shaken up its commodities investment portfolio, halving its exposure to the agricultural sector and scrapping its gold and silver allocations in spite of recent record prices in both areas. At the same time, the Dutch pension fund has increased its exposure to industrial metals and livestock, according to officials and bankers familiar with the fund.

Dagens Naeringsliv:
- StatoilHydro ASA, Norway’s largest oil producer, will send a team to investigate the Bay Hassan oil field in northern Iraq, citing Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani. Iraq plans to expand oil production to 6 million barrels a day in five years, from 2.4 million barrels a day now, al-Shahristani said.

Xinhua:
- Chinese mobile phone users are expected to send a record 17 billion text messages during the Lunar New Year holiday, citing government forecasts.

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

Large-cap Value (-1.61%)

Sector Underperformers:

Banks (-3.42%), Airlines (-2.85%) and HMOs (-2.78%)

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:

CNC, RHD, AGN, TDG, BW, AWH, SCOR, UTIW, CEPH, LPNT, PRFT, IPSU, SHPGY, CELL, JCOM, AU, TMX and ACL