Sunday, February 05, 2006

Weekly Outlook

Click here for The Week Ahead by Reuters

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

Economic reports for the week include:

Mon. - None of note
Tues. - Consumer Credit
Wed. - None of note
Thur. - Initial Jobless Claims, Wholesale Inventories
Fri. - Trade Balance, Monthly Budget Statement

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

Mon. - Activision(ATVI), Flowserve(FLS), Hasbro(HAS), Humana(HUM), Jefferson-Pilot(JP), Louisiana-Pacific(LPX), Nabors Industries(NBR), Temple-Inland(TIN), Walt Disney(DIS), Yum! Brands(YUM)
Tues. - Alkermes(ALKS), Anadarko Petroleum(APC), BMC Software(BMC), Boston Scientific(BSX), Cendant(CD), Cisco Systems(CSCO), Computer Sciences(CSC), Emerson Electric(EMR), Fisher Scientific(FSH), Fortune Brands(FO), Occidental Petroleum(OXY), Overstock.com(OSTK), Polo Ralph Lauren(RL), Sohu.com(SOHU), Wm. Wrigley Jr.(WWY)
Wed. - Alcon Inc.(ACL), Applebees Intl.(APPB), Cigna(CI), Diamond Offshore(DO), Electronic Data Systems(EDS), Energy Conversion Devices(ENER), IAC Interactive Corp.(IACI), News Corp.(NWS/A), PepsiCo(PEP), Prudential Financial(PRU), St. Joe(JOE), Whole Foods Market(WFMI), XTO Energy(XTO)
Thur. - Aetna(AET), Allegheny Energy(AYE), Amylin Pharmaceuticals(AMLN), Analog Devices(ADI), Boyd Gaming(BYD), Global SantaFe(GSF), Marriott International(MAR), MBIA Inc.(MBI), Panera Bread(PNRA), Sirius Satellite(SIRI), Timberland(TBL)
Fri. - Bausch & Lomb(BOL), Arch Coal(ACI), CNA Financial(CAN), Loews Corp.(LTR), Office Depot(ODP), Pixar(PIXR), Reebok International(RBK), XM Satellite Radio(XMSR)

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

Mon. - JP Morgan High Yield Conference, Thomas Weisel Tech Conference
Tue. - Thomas Weisel Tech Conference, Merrill Lynch Global Pharma/Biotech/Medical Device Conference, CSFB Software Conference, SG Cowen Global Aerospace Conference
Wed. - Merrill Global Pharma/Biotech/Medical Device Conference, CSFB Financial Services Conference, SG Cowen Global Aerospace Conference, Thomas Weisel Tech Conference
Thur. - Merrill Global Pharma/Biotech/Medical Device Conference, CSFB Financial Services Conference
Fri. - CSFB Financial Services Conference

BOTTOM LINE: I expect US stocks to finish the week modestly lower on geopolitical concerns, increasing Fed rate hike worries, mixed forward earnings guidance and more profit-taking. My trading indicators are now giving mostly bearish signals and the Portfolio is 75% net long heading into the week.

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