Weekly Outlook

Click here for Wall St. Week Ahead by Reuters.

Click here for stocks in focus for Monday by MarketWatch.

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

Economic reports for the week include:

Mon. – Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity

Tues. – S&P/CS Home Price Index, Consumer Confidence, House Price Index, Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index, Bernanke Report on Economy & Fed Policy, weekly retail sales

Wed. – Weekly MBA mortgage applications report, weekly EIA energy inventory data, Existing Home Sales

Thur. – Weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, Durable Goods Orders, Initial Jobless Claims, New Home Sales

Fri. – Preliminary 4Q GDP, Preliminary 4Q Personal Consumption, Preliminary GDP Price Index, Preliminary Core PCE, Chicago Purchasing Manager, Univ. of Mich. Consumer Confidence, NAPM-Milwaukee

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

Mon. – Forest Oil(FST), Onyx Pharmaceuticals(ONXX), Mohawk Industries(MHK), Nordstrom(JWN), Hertz Global(HTZ), Campbell Soup(CPB)

Tues. – Quanta Services(PWR), Medco Health Solutions(MHS), Home Depot(HD), St. Joe(JOE), Papa John’s(PZZA), Crown Castle(CCI), First Solar(FSLR), Blackstone Group(BX), Macy’s(M), HJ Heinz(HNZ), Wynn Resorts(WYNN), Foster Wheeler(FWLT), Target(TGT), Office Depot(ODP), Vornado Realty(VNO)

Wed. – JM Smucker(SJM), Saks Inc.(SKS), Eaton Vance(EV), TJX Cos(TJX), Liberty Media(LMDIA), Express Scripts(ESRX), Flour Corp.(FLR), Salesforce.com(CRM), Dollar Tree(DLTR), Ltd Brands(LTD), SPX Corp.(SPW), Del Monte(DLM)

Thur. – Federal Signal(FSS), ENSCO Intl.(ESV), Warnaco Group(WRC), Sears Holdings(SHLD), American Tower(AMT), Boyd Gaming(BYD), Novell(NOVL), Kohl’s(KSS), Gap Inc.(GPS), Cablevision(CVC), Deckers Outdoor(DECK), Public Storage(PSA), Dell Inc.(DELL), El Paso(EP), Louisiana Pacific(LPX), Rowan Cos(RDC), Safeway(SWY), Frontier Oil(FTO)

Fri. – Mirant(MIR)

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

Mon. – The Fed’s Lockhart speaking, Fed’s Fisher speaking, BMO Capital Global Metals & Mining Conference, CSFB Global Services Conference, (HON) investor conference

Tue. – President Obama addresses joint session of Congress, Fed Chairman Bernanke testifies before Senate, Fed’s Fisher speaking, Fed’s Duke speaking, BMO Capital Global Metals & Mining Conference, Merrill Lynch Insurance Conference, CSFB Global Services Conference, (WLP) investor conference, (CXG) investor meeting, (MSFT) strategic update, (HBI) investor day, (XTO) analyst conference, (CERN) investment community meeting, (JNPR) analyst meeting

Wed. – Fed Chairman Bernanke gives monetary policy report before House panel, Jeffries Internet Conference, UBS Industrials Conference, BMO Capital Global Metals & Mining Conference, Robert Baird Business Conference, Merrill Lynch Insurance Conference, CSFB Global Services Conference, Goldman Tech & Internet Conference, Pacific Crest Technology Summit, (VOLC) analyst meeting

Thur. – President Obama releases his first budget proposal, Jeffries Internet Conference, Robert Baird Business Conference, Goldman Tech & Internet Conference, Pacific Crest Technology Summit, (BKC) analyst meeting, (DF) investor day, (SFY) analyst meeting, (PCG) analyst meeting

Fri. – The Fed’s Bullard speaking, Fed’s Plosser speaking, Fed’s Yellen speaking, Goldman Tech & Internet Conference, Pacific Crest Technology Summit, (ETN) analyst meeting, (IMGN) analyst meeting, (HS) investor day, (PGN) analyst meeting

BOTTOM LINE: I expect US stocks to finish the week modestly higher on bargain-hunting, technical buying, declining credit market angst, diminishing financial sector pessimism and short-covering. My trading indicators are giving mostly bullish signals and the Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the week.