Stock Market: Looking Forward to Next Week !

The pullback came Friday, and the selling pressure was definitely intense. The Dow dropped 166 points, their worst one-day  loss since November.

Whether the losses will be short-lived is not yet clear. The answer will emerge as events unfold in Egypt, where political unrest appeared to intensify over the weekend. That, in turn, sending Dubai's benchmark index down 4.3% on Sunday. It also led to lower opens Monday for stocks in  Asia and Australia and New Zealand and pushed crude oil above $90 a barrel in electronic trading. The dollar also moved higher.

In addition to the Middle Eastern turmoil, U.S. investors will have to consider another big week of earnings this week, including XOM, BP, PFE, and UPS. There are important economic reports. The biggest is the January jobs and employment release before Friday's open. 

Futures trading Sunday evening suggested a lower open for US stock market as well as a low open for European stocks.

If you want something to make you think there's some strength in the market, look at AMZN and MSFT. They were off 9.5% and 4.9%, respectively, as their lows on Friday. Amazon.com ended at $171.14, off 7.2%;  Microsoft closed at $27.75, off 3.9%.

Stock Market:Looking Forward to Next Week!

It’s not a good thing when the DOW ends with the week at its highest level since June 2008 and all the other major indexes moved lower. That tells you loudly and clearly that the market is struggling.

There are key earning reports due next week, ranging from MCD and SBUX to SNDK and CVX. In addition, there’s an important meeting of the Federal Reserve next week and Friday’s big report on 4^th-quarter GDP.

Here's what to expect next week: 

Watch gold and silver. Gold fell 1.4% on the week to $1,341 an ounce and is off 5.7% for January. Silver dropped 3.2% to $27.43 and is off 11.4% for the month. There are concerns both are headed lower.

There's a big IPO coming up, a $1.75 billion offering from Nielsen Holdings. Trading starts Wednesday under the ticker NLSN.

A very big week for earnings 

Due Monday: American Express, McDonald's, Halliburton, VMWare.

Due Tuesday: 3M, DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, Peabody Energy, U.S. Steel, Verizon.

Due Wednesday: Boeing, United Technologies, ConocoPhillips, Starbucks, Qualcomm.

Due Thursday: Amazon.com, AT&T, Caterpillar, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, SanDisk.

Due Friday: Chevron and Honeywell.

The economy doesn't go away 
S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, due Tuesday.  Consumer confidence, due Tuesday from The Conference Board

The Federal Open Market Committee decision, due Wednesday. 

 New-home sales, due Wednesday from the Commerce Department

Jobless claims, due Thursday from the Labor Department. 

 Gross domestic produce for the fourth quarter, due Friday from the Commerce Department

Stock Market:Looking Forward to Next Week!

The Market will be closed o Monday for Martin Luther King Day.

It’s a week dominated by big banks, including C, BAC ,  WFC   that will report that they’re on the mend.  Two big techs – AAPL and GOOG  –   that  will report strong growth and better prospects.

The past week turned out to be decent for stocks. The Dow was up nearly 1% for the week, its seventh straight weekly gain.  The SP500 added 1.7% for the week, also its seventh weekly gain in a row. The Nasdaq rose 1.9%.

But there were some disappointments. The biggest might have been that detail sales for December weren’t as strong as expected.

In addition, the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index declined unexpectedly. But perhaps that shouldn't have been a surprise. High gasoline prices elicited frequent complaints.

Here's a quick look at the key earnings for the next week:

Tuesday: Citigroup before the bell, IBM and AAPL after the close.

Wednesday: Goldman Sachs , Wells Fargo and US Bankcorp before the open; EBAY and F5 (FFIV) after the close.

Thursday: Morgan Stanley, Capital One Financial and Southwest Airlines in the morning. GOOG after he close.

Friday: BAC and GE

Economic Reports

Empire  Manufacturing  index, due Tuesday from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

National Association of Home Builders’ home builder sentiment index, due Tuesday.

Housing starts and building permits for December, due Wednesday from the Commerce Department.

Existing-home sales for December, due Thursday from the National Association of Realtors.

Philly Fed survey, due Thursday from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Initial jobless claims, due Thursday from the Labor Department.

Stock Market:Looking Forward to Next Week!

Let’s start with the earnings.

Monday: Aluminum giant Alcoa, Education company Apollo Group (APOL) and personal-products maker Helen of Troy (HELE).

Tuesday: Supervalu (SVU)

Thursday: Intel (INTC)

Friday: JPMorgan Chase (JPM)

Then, Here are the economic reports to watch for:

Mortgage applications, due Wednesday from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book report, due Wednesday.

Producer Price Index and Consumer Price Index reports for December, due Thursday and Friday from the Labor Department. T

Retail sales for December, due Friday from the Commerce Department. 

Industrial production for December, due Friday from the Federal Reserve.

Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, due Friday.

Market For  the Week

The major indexes are trading substantially higher than their 50- and 200-day moving averages, both key support levels. And every time the market looks like it's about to pull back, new buying comes in.

The reason for this strength is the enormous optimism on Wall Street about the U.S. economy's 2011 prospects. Despite Friday's report of 103,000 jobs created in December -- less than expected -- the Street sees more job gains ahead.

There is some fear that stocks are becoming pricey and in danger of a pullback.

A pullback is probably in the cards, but the market doesn't face the potential mayhem that it faced in 2008.

Stock Market: Looking Forward to Next Week ?

If history is a guide, 2011 could be a good year for stocks. But the risks are big. The monthly jobs report will be the coming week's most important event.

The first week of the year will shed light on those challenges with key reports due on manufacturing, auto and retail sales for Dece too much optimism.mber and factory orders. Most important will be the Labor Department's report on December unemployment, due before the market opens on Friday. 

There are also four earnings reports to consider: Mosaic (MOS), Family Dollar (FDO), Constellation Brands (STZ) and seed producer Monsanto (MON).

Expert said, stocks could produce another good year for investors. For starters, 2011 will be the third year of Barack Obama's administration, and there hasn't been a down year in Year 3 of a presidential administration since 1937.

Consider it a really good year if there's a repeat of 2010, with the Dow up 11%, the S&P 12.8% and the Nasdaq up 16.9%. That would mean the Dow at 12,900, the S&P 500 at 1,400 and the Nasdaq at 3,000-plus.

And if that happens, a major correction will become probable.

Here are our major concerns to face：

1)      Oil prices are rising. 2) Many banks are still struggling. 3) There may be too much optimism.

4) China may not deliver. 5) Will Europe be able to take care of itself?