Sunday, November 27, 2005

Weekly Outlook

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

Economic reports for the week include:

Mon. - Existing Home Sales
Tues. - Durable Goods Orders, Consumer Confidence, New Home Sales
Wed. - Preliminary 32Q GDP, Preliminary 3Q GDP Price Index, Preliminary 3Q Personal Consumption, Chicago Purchasing Manager, Fed’s Beige Book
Thur. - Personal Income, Personal Spending, PCE Deflator, Initial Jobless Claims, Construction Spending, ISM Manufacturing, ISM Prices Paid, Total Vehicle Sales
Fri. - Change in Non-farm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate

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

Mon. - None of note
Tues. - GameStop Corp.(GME)
Wed. - Chico’s FAS(CHS), Copart(CPRT), Jack in the Box(JBX), McData(MCDTA), Mercury Interactive(MERQE), Synopsys(SNPS), Tiffany & Co.(TIF)
Thur. - Comverse Technology(CMVT), Novell Inc.(NOVL), Omnivision Technology(OVTI)
Fri. - Del Monte(DLM), Dillard’s(DDS)

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

Mon. - JPMorgan Consumer & Retail Holiday Conference
Tue. - CSFB Technology Conference, JPMorgan Consumer & Retail Holiday Conference, Merrill Lynch Health Services Conference, CIBC Best Ideas Conference
Wed. - Merrill Lynch Health Services Conference, CIBC Best Ideas Conference, CSFB Tech Conference
Thur. - AG Edwards Computer Conference, CSFB Tech Conference, Merrill Lynch Med Tech Conference, Citigroup Global Paper Conference
Fri. - CSFB Tech Conference

BOTTOM LINE: I expect US stocks to finish the week mixed as worries over the housing market and profit-taking offset more optimism over US economic growth, short-covering, moderating inflation fears and a better employment report. Stocks will likely consolidate recent gains in the near-term before mounting another push higher into year-end. My trading indicators are still giving bullish signals and the Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the week.

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