Next Week: ExxonMobile Reports

So far this week, has been quite a thriller for those long in the stock market. Earnings reports came in better than expected for the most part, and Housing numbers surprised even the most optimistic experts in the field. So, will next week continue the rally? Could the Dow Actually start it's accent up to the 10,000 mark within a couple months? I guess we will all find out soon. Let's take a look at Next weeks agenda.

- Jul 27 10:00 AM New Home Sales
- Jul 28 9:00 AM Consumer Confidence
- Jul 28 9:00 AM S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index
- Jul 28 9:00 AM S&P/CaseShiller Home Price Index
- Jul 29 8:30 AM Durable Orders
- Jul 29 8:30 AM Durables, Ex Transportation
- Jul 29 10:30 AM Crude Inventories
- Jul 29 2:00 PM Fed's Beige Book
- Jul 30 8:30 AM Initial Claims
- Jul 31 8:30 AM GDP-Adv.
- Jul 31 8:30 AM Core PCE
- Jul 31 8:30 AM Chain Deflator-Adv.
- Jul 31 8:30 AM Employment Cost Index
- Jul 31 9:45 AM Chicago PMI
- Jul 31 10:00 AM Employment Cost Index

As you can see, there are a lot of second quarter numbers coming out. I will be paying particular attention to the New Home sales, as well as the home price indicators, to see if the increase in pre-owned home sales was caused by a lowering of prices, or a decrease in new home sales, or if it the entire market is beginning to thaw. The unemployment and GDP numbers should also be significant economic indicators to fill us in on the state of the general economy. Next week is also another big one for earnings. Below are some of the key companies reporting next week:

Monday:
Radio Shack
Sohu
Verizon

Tuesday:
BP
Earthlink
Mittel
Viacom

Wednesday:
Hess
IAC

Thursday:
Brunswick
Expedia
ExxonMobile

Friday:
Chevron

Cash for Clunkers Program and Next Week

It's Friday again so another look at the week ahead, but first I want to talk a little about the Cash For Clunkers Program that was just approved by the government.

Cash for Clunkers Program
The Program today was approved by the Senate and just needs Obama to sign it into law. It gives consumers with cars that get less than 18 miles per gallon the ability to turn them in for a $3,500 or $4,500 cash credit. This could be huge for the economy, and will also make a lot of environmentalists happy. It might be enough for me to consider buying into some auto stocks. Although, "Cash for Clunkers," will not save the auto industry by itself, it could pave the way for quite a nice rebound. Those companies which make the more fuel efficient vehicles should see the most benefit. Only if the 300 Mile per gallon car, the Aptera was selling yet.

Next Weeks Economic Data

- Jun 23 10:00 AM Existing Home Sales May
- Jun 24 8:30 AM Durable Orders May
- Jun 24 8:30 AM Durable Orders, Ex-Transportation May
- Jun 24 10:00 AM New Home Sales May
- Jun 24 10:30 AM Crude Inventories 06/19
- Jun 24 2:15 PM FOMC Rate Decision
- Jun 25 8:30 AM Initial Claims 06/20
- Jun 25 8:30 AM Q1 GDP - Final Q1
- Jun 26 8:30 AM Personal Income May
- Jun 26 8:30 AM Personal Spending
- Jun 26 8:30 AM PCE Core May
- Jun 26 9:55 AM Mich Sentiment-Rev

A Few of Next Weeks Earnings releases:

Walgreens - Monday
Oracle - Tuesday
Nike - Wednesday
RedHat - Wednesday
Rite Aid - Wednesday
Wyeth - Wednesday

Iran: Hossein Moussavi Win May Help the Markets

Once again we have hit the end of the week, and that can mean only one thing. Our traditional end of week look ahead. This week has been pretty flat in terms of the stock market. We did get some more encouraging news when we found that new unemployment forms were not as high as expected. In addition to the whole array of economic news we expect next week, we should also get results from Iran on their National election. Right now it looks as though, Mir Hossein Moussavi, who is friendlier to the West, may beat out the President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Although the Nuclear ambitions of Iran may not change with either candidate, a victory for Moussavi could affect the markets a bit positively. Below is the list of data that we will be receiving next week:

- Jun 15 8:30 AM NY Empire Manufacturing Index Jun
- Jun 15 9:00 AM Net Long-Term TIC Flows Apr
- Jun 16 8:30 AM Building Permits May
- Jun 16 8:30 AM Core PPI May
- Jun 16 8:30 AM Housing Starts May
- Jun 16 8:30 AM PPI May
- Jun 16 8:30 AM Building Permits May
- Jun 16 8:30 AM PPI May
- Jun 16 8:30 AM Core PPI May
- Jun 16 9:15 AM Capacity Utilization May
- Jun 16 9:15 AM Industrial Production May
- Jun 17 8:30 AM Core CPI May
- Jun 17 8:30 AM CPI May
- Jun 17 10:30 AM Crude Inventories
- Jun 17 10:35 AM Crude Inventories
- Jun 18 8:30 AM Initial Claims 06/13
- Jun 18 10:00 AM Leading Indicators May
- Jun 18 10:00 AM Philadelphia Fed Jun

I will be paying close attention to the Building Permits number on Tuesday, as well as the initial claims of unemployment on Friday, as both could show that the economy is well on the way to recovery. If the Initial claims number continues to slide downward, we may be in pretty good shape. As for Next weeks earnings reports, there are not too many. I would venture to guess that next week is one of the deadest week for earnings all year, or at least in the quarter.

Next Weeks Market News Makers - Unemployment to 9.2%

It's Friday again, so that means we look at what one can expect from the markets next week. This week has been pretty good overall. We saw today that the first quarter GDP decline was only 5.7% instead of the initially thought 6.1% decline. Experts also predict a much flatter decline for the 2nd quarter and finally an increase in GDP for Quarter 3. By the forth quarter, experts predict a 1.8% increase in GDP. So what on tap for next week? Here is the economic Calendar for the first week in June, 2009:

- Jun 1 8:30 AM Personal Income
- Jun 1 8:30 AM Personal Spending
- Jun 1 10:00 AM Construction Spending
- Jun 1 10:00 AM ISM Index
- Jun 2 10:00 AM Pending Home Sales
- Jun 2 2:00 PM Auto Sales
- Jun 2 2:00 PM Truck Sales
- Jun 3 8:15 AM ADP Employment Change
- Jun 3 10:00 AM Factory Orders
- Jun 3 10:00 AM ISM Services
- Jun 3 10:30 AM Crude Inventories
- Jun 3 10:35 AM Crude Inventories
- Jun 4 8:30 AM Initial Claims 05/30
- Jun 4 8:30 AM Productivity-Rev. Q1
- Jun 4 8:30 AM Unit Labor Costs Q1
- Jun 5 8:30 AM Average Workweek
- Jun 5 8:30 AM Hourly Earnings
- Jun 5 8:30 AM Nonfarm Payrolls
- Jun 5 8:30 AM Unemployment Rate
- Jun 5 2:00 PM Consumer Credit

The data that I will be looking at that I think could move the markets quite a bit are, the construction spending data, which could signal a turnaround in the housing market, as well as the Unemployment data. The Unemployment rate was at 8.9% at the end of April, and will likely increase to about 9.2% for the end of May. Consumer credit is also another big piece of info we will get by Friday, and should let us know in a bit more detail, just how backed up the credit markets are. Another thing to note are the forex markets in which the dollar has continued to fall this week, leading Gold and other commodities to have a nice run.