Back to Futures Market in general and financial in particular, it will be a long list of things we should note in around the market. However, the information will guide your trading, take note for your successful week!


The S&P had a notable 7 week run which came to a halt last week. It is flat at 1280.00 in the premarket as investors weigh earnings numbers. The DOW however had its 8th week with gains which is the longest streak since the March run of 2010. Technical analysts see this bullish behavior going through the second quarter while others see a pullback. There is no economic data expected to be announced today but there are high profile names delivering earnings such as McDonalds (MCD), American Express (AXP), and Bellwethers Texas Instruments (TXN). Halliburton (HAL) did announce a fourth quarter profit which affected the stock with a 1% rise. It was also announced over the weekend that RockTenn Co (RKT) is buying rival Smurfit-Stone Container Corp (SSCC) for $3.5 billion. SSCC rose over 21% before the bell.

On Tuesday the 25th Case-Shiller is coming and is forecast to be down -1.0%, Consumer Confidence is expected to grow 1.0% from last announcement, and FHFH Housing Price Index will be announced which was 0.7 at prior announcement. On Wednesday the 26th the MBA Mortgage Purchase, New Home Sales, Cruse Inventories, and FOMC Rate Decision will be important to watch. Home sales are expected to drop 20k to 280k. The Fed rate is expected to stay unchanged at 0.25%. On Thursday the 27th Initial Claims are supposed to drop 10k to 400k while Durable Goods to stay the same at 1.5%. Pending Home Sales are expected to be down over -2.0%. Friday the 28th the GDP is forecast to come in higher than the last announcement up 0.8% to 3.4% and could set the tone for the end of the week.

The Fed. announcement may not be too exciting but the language that will be used may be a market mover. If they decide to talk about raising interest rates over the next few months this would show inflation concerns. Food prices are rising as well as gas at the pumps for the consumer. The current economic condition is still an issue for many so rising prices could affect the Consumer Confidence number. Though it is expected to rise at this week’s announcement it can change dramatically as price move upward.

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